A play of light and dark on canvas of vermilion

By Himal Kotelawala

Agasthi, an exhibition by artist and cartoonist Lalith Senanayake will be held at the Harold Peiris Gallery, Lionel Wendt from June 12 to 15. Vermillion, the theme colour of the exhibition is derived from the rare stone Agasthi, says Senanayake.

“I have created abstract art from these colour variations, and light and dark elements, he says. “Renowned artists like Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Kingsley Gunatilake and Jagath Weerasinghe have conveyed a lot through colour and abstract art. This is just my attempt to do something similar,” he says.

The exhibition will showcase 30 paintings, sculptures created from everyday metal objects such as nails and discarded steel sheets, and wildlife paintings. Senanayake worked as a cartoonist in The Island and Divaina newspapers and won the award for best cartoonist at the Sri Lanka Press Institute Awards in 2004. He also illustrated the popular UN publication Safety at Sea last year.

A student of the legendary artist S. P. Charles, Senanayake has followed a four year higher diploma in traditional art and fine arts conducted by the National Museum in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

At present he works for the Rivira newspaper and is researching into Sri Lanka’s academic artists and compiling a collection of his political cartoons to be published shortly.