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In-Between Matter and Materiality curated by Dumith Kulasekara

In-Between Matter and Materiality curatorial note In-Between Matter and Materiality is an exhibition of a new body of work created by the students at the final level in the department of painting. The exhibition highlights a group of young artists’ approaches to experimentation with matter and materiality in their studio practice. The studio practice has allowed them to find the methodologies and possibilities for the evolution of their works. The body of work results from the process evolved from the act of probing, questioning, responding, situating, constructing and deconstructing different matters and materials encountered by these young artists. This collection of work displayed on the three floors in the JDA Perera Gallery implies a character of visual poetry present in every work and its relationship to the whole body of work. Such intimacy among the works evokes a sense of order and disorder, and differences and repetitions in the visual language developed by each artist. The v
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Traces of the Art Educator and the Artist W. A Ariyasena (1931 - 2022)

  This text is dedicated to an extraordinary art teacher, former faculty (Department of Painting, Faculty of Visual Arts) and a modern painter in Sri Lanka W.A. Ariyasena who died at 91 (?) on August 8, 2022.  When I heard the news about the death of this wonderful personality, it took me back to some traces that he left on his journey. An object ( a large blue colour container) that I saw at his studio in 2020 is not a work of art that he intentionally created, but it is something that the artist left during the act of painting as an unconscious habit of mark making. These energetic traces of his gestures embodying his presence and absence in the present context is the hidden energy of his language of art and teaching. His conversation was always full of arts, literature, music and cinema that he absorbed by travelling around Europe and living in the discourse of his contemporaries (J.D.A Perera, Mahagamasekara, David Paynter, Stanley Abesinghe, H.A. Karunarathne, Albert Dharmasiri..)
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A Poem for (the) Post-Black Square

  Turn ( the) Mirror into your face Look into your eyes Lay a hand at the sternum where your heart is hidden under the skin and bones in touching the hidden heart So tell the truth to yourself Please... save this country at least for  our children... and for every fetus... I'm afraid that the  return of (the) Trauma
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Sri Lankan Modern Art: George Keyt: A Portrait of the Artist by Albert Dharmasiri

  an Artist looking at an Artist George Keyt: A Portrait of the Artist by Albert Dharmasiri If I am not mistaken, I first met Professor Albert Dharmasiri in 2005 when I was a second-year student at the department of painting. Albert Dharmasiri who was the first Professor in Painting taught the courses in life drawing and life painting at the department. He had experiences of teaching and being in the highest academic bodies at UVPA  nearly for four decades. One day, I remembered he came to the studio for life painting sessions with a book on one of the most celebrated figurative painters of all time Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011). He talked about the beauty of paint application in his nudes painting. In particular, the poses of the human body that Freud depicted were appreciated by Professor Dharmasiri. And in one of his drawing sessions, Professor Dharmsiri said that “look at the inner rhythmical structure of the human body, as you can see it in leaves...”. Albert Dharmasiri studied paint
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H.A. Karunarathne : The Avant-garde Artist and a Materialist of Sri Lankan Art

I started writing on  H.A. Karunarathne's works many years ago with the title of "The Avant-garde Artist and A Materialist of Sri Lankan Art". For some reason, I couldn't complete the text. A few days ago, I visited him and his work at his studio to discuss the forthcoming staff exhibition of the department of painting. This was my third visit to his studio. The following is the extract from the conversation that I had with H.A. Karunarathe at his studio in March 2021. It should be noted that there is no particular order of the questions asked from HA. The conversation flowed on as one step leading to another.  H. A Karunarathne plays a prolific role in the landscape of Sri Lankan modern and contemporary art. He is the most senior artist living and working constantly in studio contexts today. The other two senior artists in his generation retired Professor Albert Dharamsiri and W.A. Ariyasena are also contributing to Sri Lankan Art through their visual languages. Howe
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George Keyt: A Portrait of The Artist by Albert Dharmasiri

  Albert Dharmasiri was the first professor in Painting at the Department of Painting. His unique scholarly contribution to the literature of Sri Lankan Art has been significant and unavoidable landmark of writing of Sri Lankan Art. In the recent book, Dharmasiri relooks at George Keyt’s position in the context of Sri Lankan and South Asian Art. Unique scholarly investigation on   Keytian   Language of Drawing and Painting with very rare collection of reproduction of his works, this book gives a comprehensive reading of George Keyt’s works and his contemporary context as well. A comprehensive review of the book is published on this blog soon. Dumith Kulasekara  January 30 2021
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DEPARTMENT EXHIBITION 2021

  Due to the prevailing situation of the Pandemic, this event has been postponed. An exhibition of recent works by the Fulltime Faculty, Visiting Faculty  and Invited Artists will be held in May 2021 at the Faculty of Visual Arts, and on Online as a virtual exhibition. This exhibition will feature  works in different languages of  visual arts, and address diversities of themes and subjects that associated with the artists' creative research practice in their personal and social contexts.
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