Traces of the Art Educator and the Artist W. A Ariyasena (1931

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..). His philosophy as an artist and an art teacher is rooted in the contexts of the European modern language and Sri Lankan traditional form of art. He was interested in juxtaposing these two languages by seeing their differences and similarities. W.A. Ariyasena was able to bring his experiences and history to the young generation of teachers, artists and students in the faculty during the time he was actively engaged in academic works.

Therefore, it requires an in-depth art historical excavation to reveal untold stories of Sri Lankan Art where the artist W.A. Ariyasena is situated. That could help to reconstruct the history of art while redefining his contribution to the Faculty and to the discourse of Modern Art in Sri Lanka.

Dumith Kulasekara

August 9 2022

Colombo

Comments

"The Red Youth" : A Modern Painting in Sri Lanka

The 1950s was a period that marked significant changes that happened on both the super and infrastructures of Sri Lanka. Such changes were reflected in cultural lives and their productions made within that context. In particular, from a political, social, and cultural point of view, the year 1956 was significantly traced as a period that the mainstream ideological belief of the country was turned into another direction (maybe with a belief of a positive future). At that time the state of the country thought that the roots of Sri Lankan energetic forces had been hidden, therefore, such forces should be re-generated. It formed a new political movement with empowering native five great forces. In this text, I am not going to discuss such issues and areas, obviously, it is another research. The reason that I slightly mentioned such historical background is because the subject of this text; "the Red Youth" (pic: 1) was painted in the year 1956. In 2018 (I cannot remember the exa...

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 stud...

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

Dumith Kulasekara: Visual Arts Practice, Research & Writing.

Search This Blog