Janananda Laksiri Anoli Perera

Anoli Perera
Screaming Elegy + power poles iii
Born in 1979,
Laksiri
carried
out his art education at the Vibhavi
Academy of Fine
Arts (VAFA) and
from the National
Design Center in
Sri Lanka where
his his classical
art
techniques
were
primarily
developed.
His experience in electronics and his talent in
IT in an array of 2D and 3D graphic software
has generated powerful digital art and phenomenal multimedia installations.
His work, Mirror Images, an installation of a
charred power poles with a flickering streetlamps surrounded by tall mirrors parallel to
each other, was considered by many as one of
the major attractions at the Colombo Art Biennale in 2012. His masterful works are highly
charged with emotions that take the viewer
beyond personal despair and misery to focus
on the broader issues of society.
Brief on Laksiri written by Lalith Manage
Anoli has been part of the wave of artists in the
1990s that established a new ideological position
in art production
in relation to the
contemporary art
knowledge and
social context in
Sri Lanka.
Hailed as the
pioneering contemporary woman artist in Sri
Lanka, who ushered in art that
is informed by feminism and craft
art practices, her
work
engages
critically on thematic that range
from
women’s
issues,
history,
myth to identity,
colonialism and
post colonial anxieties .
Comfort Zone
[email protected] | www.colomboartbiennale.com
www.artaholicblog.com
Hempel Galleries, a venture that primarily represents Sri Lankan Artists, works collaboratively
with the Colombo Art Biennale as well as other art organizations and curators, establishing a
holistic approach to promoting contemporary artists in Sri Lanka.
The ethos of Hempel Galleries is to motivate artists in the development of their careers taking a
multi-faceted approach by working with artist collectives as well as with individual artists. HG
has also supported and is instrumental in creating opportunities for Sri Lankan artists to further
their careers abroad, through exhibitions, artist in residency programmes and nominations for
international art prizes.
The majority of Sri Lanka’s most prominent artists have exhibited either at HG or CAB, and
CAB 2012 hosted the largest number of artists participating in one single international art event
in the country.
Through its interactions with CAB, artists, art organizations and curators, HG’s objective is to
continuously encourage a high caliber of art practice and enhance the curatorial practice that
will lead to a vibrant art scene in Sri Lanka.
She
currently
lives and works
in New Delhi,
India.
[email protected] | www.hempelgalleries.com
Protest
1
.
In 2012 the second edition of CAB was launched with `Becoming’, providing an international
platform. The intention was to showcase the very best of Sri Lankan contemporary visual artists
alongside regional and international artists. `Becoming’ hosted 34 Sri Lankan artists and 17
international artists, all of whom explored the theme with their work, in conjunction with a
varied and well attended programme of seminars and workshops.
30/3 Barnes Place
Colombo 07
6 Pedlar Street
Galle Fort
0
.
CAB was launched in 2009 with `Imagining Peace’. Curators and artists teamed up to create
the very first event that saw artists from different backgrounds and different schools of thought
show their work under one roof and one theme.
.
Janananda
Laksiri
CAB is the largest contemporary art manifestation in Sri Lanka. It was created to showcase the
most progressive contemporary Sri Lankan artists, and to build a platform upon which talented
Sri Lankan artists would gain recognition both nationally and internationally.
2
Falling Matter
Born in 1962, she studied Political Science, Economics and Sociology and holds a postgraduate
diploma in international affairs. Anoli has lived
and worked as an artist in the USA, Australia
and Japan. As well as participating extensively in
group shows internationally, Anoli has also had
solo shows in Colombo, Kochi and New Delhi,
and was invited to participate in the Fukoka Art
Triennale, Japan and the Colombo Art Biennale,
Sri Lanka.
3
Anoli’s work consists of large installations, paintings, sculpture and more recently photo-performances.
Manna iii
At the Foot of the Mountain
Pradeep Chandrasiri
Pradeep Chandrasiri, born in 1968 in Kandy,
is a self-taught painter and installation artist
who belongs to the first generation of younger
artists directly identified with the ‘90s Trend’,
a group of artists that professed a new ideological position in art production in relation
to the contemporary art knowledge and social
context in Sri Lanka.
Chandrasiri came into prominence within this
discourse in late 1990s. Currently based in
Colombo, he works as a full time professional artist and has had several exhibitions in
Sri Lanka and internationally. His works are
in many ways akin to autobiographical notes,
narratives that present a visual enterpretation
of psychological memories of his experiences
in Sri Lanka.
Koralegedara Pushpakumara
Cora de Lang
Pradeep Thalawatta
Born in 1968 in Gampola, Kandy , Koralegedara
Pushpakumara received his art education from
the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of
Kelaniya where he graduated with a BFA in painting in 1997.
Cora de Lang, painter, sculptor installation artist
and teacher, is a transcultural nomad with Argentinean and German citizenship who has spent 30
years living and working as an artist in Germany,
India, Mexico, Spain, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
Pradeep, born in 1979, a member of the Theertha
collective, has been living in Jaffna since 2010,
where he has been teaching art at Jaffna University. His experiences in Jaffna have had a dramatic
impact on his current art practice.
He also received a Diploma in Archeology at the
Postgraduate Institute of Archeology, University
of Kelaniya in 2003. At present he is reading for
his MA in Art History at the same university.
Cora has exhibited extensively and has works in
private and state collections over four continents.
Her recent works focus on conceptual art, video
art and the blurred spaces between traditional art
expressions and digital art.
Painting, drawing, photo manipulation, digital
collaging, installations, video and performance,
are all mediums in which Pradeep works in.
Koralegedera Pushpakumara is one of the early artists of the `90s Trend’ who has exhibited
extensively in Sri Lanka and taken part in many
international workshops and art events. He has
received many awards including 1st Place for
Painting in 1995 at the Youth Services Council
Award Festival, as well as in the State Awards
Festival 1999.
His latest series `Goodwill Hardware’ exhibited
at Theeertha Red
Dot Gallery, the
Colombo
Art
Biennale and at
Hempel Galleries in Colombo
and Galle have
been highly acclaimed.
Pushpakumara
lives and works
in Colombo Sri
Lanka
The Seated Man 3
Pala Pothupitiye
Point Pedro
Born in 1972, Pala graduated from the University of Visual & Performing Arts Colombo with
a BFA majoring in sculpture. Since 2002 he
has been part of Theertha International Artists’
Collective in Sri Lanka and he is a visiting lecturer at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
With a background in traditional craft artists
and ritual specialists, Pala incorporates and
reinterprets certain materials and philosophical contents of traditional art in his work. A
thoughtful, sophisticated, and subtly political
artist, Pothupitiye has established himself as a
vital exponent of Sri Lanka’s ‘90s Trend’. He
confronts the compelling political issues raised
by the war in Sri Lanka and brings certain repressed questions to the canvas and his art objects.
Her work often
executed in layers encompasses
both
figurative
and abstract as
well as the use
of photography
and video. Her
film work has
been shown at
International Film
Festivals and she
consistently participates in several international
internet
based
collaborative artist groups.
Manori Jayasinghe
Gold Glasses
Manori, a jewellery designer by profession,
received artistic training at the Vibhavi Fine
Arts Academy. She successfully explores the
full potential of her creative talent by engaging
in other forms of artistic expressions. She is
extremely versatile in her use of media, working with oil, water-colour, print media and
installations using materials such as pins,
roots, plastic and buttons, transforming and
transcending objects of fashion and adornment to the status of art.
Flight bags, Circus
Manori’s work addresses social issues taken
from her own experiences. She silently gives
voice and is especially sensitive to the space
that women occupy in a male dominant culture and often highlights these aspects, with
humour.
Manori is also actively involved in community work carrying out workshops to develop
skills, counseling and art workshops for disadvantaged children and women living with
drug addicted men/women.
Pothupitiye’s talent has been recognized extensively. He was elected Best Artist of the Year
and received the First Prize in Sculpture at
the State Art Festival in Sri Lanka in 2003. In
2005 he participated in the Fukuoka Trienniale
in Japan, and in 2010 he received 1st Prize in
the Sovereign Art Asian Prize, Hong Kong. He
participated at the 2012 Colombo Art Biennale
and recently also participated at the 2012 Katmandu International Art Festival.
Pradeep gives special attention to textures and
colours as well as the memories, histories and experiences embodied in objects. His earlier works
reveal his interest to the allure of the urban, trivial and throw-away objects. Incorporating highly
urban situations, industrial material and popular
celebrity icons, Pradeep addresses the complexities of consumer culture and self-identity.
Raja Theatre Halt
Disappearing and Reappearing
Pala currently lives and works in Colombo,
and runs an art and craft workshop supporting
and mentoring a set of younger artists.
Barrier Tape & Barbed Wire
The Guest
Roadscape