ARTS

Singular beauty in reality

An exhibition of figurative art:

By Ranga Chandrarathne

rangac@sundayobserver.lk
 

An exhibition of figurative art by Jayantha Silva will be held from September 12 to October 05 at La Rambla Restaurant, Colombo 08. The forte of Jayantha seems to be his innate ability to interpret reality with brush strokes and a unique composition of light and shade.

Jayantha’s combination of colours differs from one painting to another to suit the subject at hand. Against the abstracts, Jayantha Silva paints reality. He has been inspired by the environment and human figures. Though the human figures have been drawn with photographic impressions, they stand on their own as unique pieces of art.

Significant characteristic of Jayantha’s human figures is that they are more alive than photographs of the same human figures. This is manifested by several exhibits that have been included in the present collection.

Smiling child is a painting that captures a rare moment of a child. The child smiles with closed up eyes against the backdrop of white canvas.

Jayantha has used brown and white for this painting. The artist has brilliantly depicted the happiness of the child through the facial expressions. Here the effect of light on child’s face has also been depicted against the white background. The light, perhaps, from the sun falls on the child’s body by a side and the effect of light has been portrayed by craftily manipulating light and shade in the painting. In terms of colour combination and use of light and shade in expressing the emotional state of the child, the painting has fulfilled its intended purpose.

The woman’s face is a different type of figurative drawing where a part of the human face is depicted. The woman’s face is marked by its sharp features such as straight nose. However, the artist has been cautious about the identity of the figure. The artist made a woman-face an universal symbol of femininity by simply obliterating the eyes. It is here that the deserving viewers should focus on and identify the principle different between a mere portrait and a figurative drawing.

‘Lass’ is a one of the captivating works which, once again, depicts a woman’s bust. Here a significant feature of the painting is that the artist achieved the task with the use of minimum brush strokes. White has been used in contrast to fading black which makes up the figure.

The figure of a woman in a night gown on a bed is another creation where the artist was able to depict the amber atmosphere just after the dawn. The light on her body has been illustrated in carefully texturing the woman figure with light and shade.‘Expression’ is a painting which depicts gamut of emotions in a woman’s face. Here Jayantha captures a rare aspect of an emotion-filled face. It is not a very beautiful face but a memorable one which is re-created as black and white portrait.

‘Nobody’s child’, ‘Market man’, ‘Naughty’ and ‘Little Valli’ are some of the best creations which stand out in the collection.

A singular characteristic of Jayantha’s painting is his remarkable ability to paint human figures. It is amply demonstrated in that rather than mere portraying figures, Jayantha goes deep into the lives of the subject. For instance, ‘Nobody’s child’, ‘Yard of Tea’ and ‘Music ‘are the depiction of men and women of different walks on a canvas rather than mere drawing of figures.

Though Jayantha has not been formerly educated in the field of Art, he seems to grasp the subtleties and nuances of the craft by sheer practice and deep insight into the environment and into the landscape of human activities.

Urban changes

Documentary Photo Exhibition:

by Ranga Chandrarathne

The Documentary Photo Exhibition “Urban Changes” will open for public on September 13 at the German Cultural Centre in Colombo. The exhibition highlights the changes cityscape in India.

URBAN FABRIC

The Dhobi Ghats of India

Alefiya drew a photo-essay on the Ghats or communal laundries. They are formed by row upon row of concrete wash pens each fitted with their own flogging stone and occupied by one Dhobi, washer.

The clothes are washed in this murky water, hit against the stones, tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and gifted to the scorching sun to dry. The following day they are ironed and piled into neat bundles.

The photographers who contribute to the exhibition include Alefiya Akbarally, Baptist Coelho, Clare Arni, Jagath Deerasekara, Mahesh Shantharam, Sohail Abdullah and Vivek M.

The exhibition is sponsored by Sri Lanka Telecom.

Arts Diary

Unexpected Moment

“Unexpected Moment”, an exhibition of paintings by Wasantha Kumara will be held on September 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Welagedara Badulla. (R.C.)

Open seminar on ABA

A seminar organized by Swarna Sanka Foundation titled “Who this ABA” will be held on September 11 from 3.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. at Mahaweli Kendraya. ABA is a film directed by Jackson Anthony and is hailed as technologically perfect production where state-of-art machinery has been used for the production. (R.C.)