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| Sunday, 26 February 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Arts Inner thoughts - exposed by Aditha Dissanayake
Sithum Sankalana or Inner Thoughts, which brings together fifty paintings of Kumudu Peiris, at the Lionel Wendt on March 3,4 and 5th, make one realize that while some artists leave their mark within a tradition, and others pave new paths, there are also those who don't belong either to the past or the future, and that Kumudu falls into this last category. A solitary boat setting sail on a calm sea - looks like a dream-scape with the lack of a title adding to the enigma. "I have done away with the titles" explains Kumudu. "You have to look at the painting, and think of a title on your own". From pictures of fishermen perched precariously on poles in the Southern coast, to beautiful women draped in transparent shawls, the fifty paintings done in oil acrylic, water colour, poster colour and colour pencil, vary from the ordinary to the out gracious.
A self-taught artist who believes he might have inherited his talent from his father, Wathalpala Kusuman, and grateful to Bandula Padmakumara for encouraging him to have this exhibition, Kumudu nevertheless says when it comes to his paintings, to his style and his singular imagination, he owes nothing to anybody. No doubt that everything does not always have to be pleasant and beautiful. But surely there is no harm in wanting things to be remarkable. So, if you are on the lookout for a remarkable artistic temperament which moves between the erotic and the sober, the rural and the urban, Kumudu Peries's Inner Thoughts, when they go on the walls of the Lionel Wendt on March, 3,4 and 5, is worth visiting. Finally, the alpha and omega of art exhibitions? No. But the pictures on display come close to the work of the French painter, Henry Rousseau; they draw you in until you find yourself in a magical world of your own. Tck! Snap out of it before you start wishing you need not return. Sitarist Pradeep Ratnayake's latest concert : Pradeepanjalee IX The ninth concert in the Pradeepanjalee series by virtuoso sitarist Pradeep Ratnayake and his friends will be held at the Lionel Wendt theatre on March 1, at 7.00 p.m. Pradeepanjalee IX will feature Ratnayake's own compositions which fuse elements of many music traditions of the world, keeping at its core Sri Lankan folk music. The concert is made possible by the generosity of Niloufer Pieris who believes in the need for the sponsorship of the Arts and Deva Surya Sena Center. Tickets will be available at the Lionel Wendt from February 21,2006. 'Dahana-4' : A dream accomplished by Ananda Kannangara A unique solo exhibition of paintings, depicting the life span of the people and the beauty of nature in the rural sector, will be presented by renowned artist Sudumenike Wijesooriya at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery in Colombo, from March 8 to 12, commencing at 10 am to 7.00 p.m.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Sudumenike said that the three exhibitions of paintings, conducted by her in the recent past at the Art Gallery in Colombo and the French Friendship Society in Kandy, received a high response from school children as well as the public. "These three art exhibitions, encouraged me to focus attention towards another exhibition of paintings in a different angle. 'Dahana-4' will fulfil my aspiration and also my childhood dream. Born and bred at Thulhiriya in the Kegalle district, Sudumenike said that she immensely loved the rural environment from her childhood. "I had a great attachment towards paddy fields, the threshing floor and also the farmer community. I love the murmur of streams and the cries of wild animals. However, this situation helped me to develop my inborn artistic talents. A teacher in art by profession, Sudumenike (46) had undergone a training at Giragama Aesthetic Training College in 1984. At present she works as an art teacher at Tholangamuwa Dudley Senanayake Vidyalaya. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Be honest now. Arn't you tired of gazing at paintings which are full of
riddles, with bizarre geometrical shapes and mysterious figures covered in
daubs of paint, which look as though the cat did a jig on the canvas bearing
the most puzzling titles? (Splashes of blue, black and orange called
"Nirvana"). If so, here is a break from the usual run-of-the-mill art
exhibitions, which deserve the kind of treatment the Emperor received for
his new clothes. 
When my gaze rests a minute too long on the figure of a girl emerging
from a lake, with a loosely draped cloth round her waist, Kumudu grins, taps
his forehead and says "They come straight from my head, and most of the time
I paint without thinking". 
The five- day exhibition, conducted under the theme 'Dahana-4', will be
opened by Media and Information Minister, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and
Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Minister, Athauda Seneviratne, on
March 8 at 5.00 p.m. 
