As the HSBC Galle Literary Festival brings the Galle Fort alive, the boutique hotel Amangalla, formerly the New Oriental Hotel, opens its doors to the public for talks and workshops. In the public spaces and some generally closed areas the Saskia Fernando Gallery is presenting a refreshingly original show featuring a young illustrator and a sculptor.
Prageeth Manohansa, 33, studied in Benares and Sri Lanka after which he began working on various masks and God statues made with old car parts.
He has built a presence internationally, being recently featured in a calendar printed by Nuage Branding of Indonesia and locally, completing his biggest installation to-date at the new Courtyard Hotel in central Colombo. His work is found in collections worldwide.
The sustainable art form that Prageeth uses appeals to collectors, not only for their sensitivity to movement and form but their changing nature as outdoor sculpture creates an effect which transforms. The series being exhibited at the Amangalla hotel are life size and oversized kaputas (crows), placed throughout the colonial property and suspended from its verandah roofs.
His work is complemented by a new entry into the contemporary art scene, young Mika Tennekoon who was introduced to the public through the quarterly event, PechaKucha Colombo. Mika’s simple translation of day-to-day and emotional events into beautifully constructed illustrations was featured in Paper Canvas, a limited edition poster show.
Mika has been involved in projects such as the Secret Garden Party and Whale of a time in the UK. Locally she has co-ordinated Galle Literary Festival workshops, been involved in the Colombo Fashion Week and now belongs to a collective named COCA (Collective of Contemporary Artists).
She works with multiple mediums such as photography, digital sketches and installation but it is her small sketchbook drawings that appear in this exhibition, framed and placed at the entrance of the show, leading the audience towards Prageeth’s installations.
The show will be open to the public during the festival and will remain on display until February 19.
In our article last week on the Unity camp in Mannar, the photographs were by Charitha Rupesinghe and not by Nilan Maligaspe as mistakenly stated.
The error is regretted. |
E-mail
