Looking at society with a satirical gaze – Arts
S.H. Sarath Pix by M.A. Pushpakumara
S.H. Sarath presents the society around him in line drawings, most of the time with a subtle blend of humour and sarcasm.
His line drawing of a group of parliamentarians sleeping in the House is an indictment on the bad example set by these people’s representatives. Then he depicts pregnant maidens in the Sigiriya frescoes to highlight a serious social vice fast spreading in the area. Similarly, he talks of many other social issues as well as political developments taking place in society through his skilful drawings.
Counting close to 50 years in the field, the veteran artist will hold an exhibition of his recent paintings titled ART at his home gallery located at No. 18/A, Sarasavi Gardens, Nawala Road, Nugegoda from June 17-28 from 10 a.m. to 6p.m. daily. Over 50 drawings and 30 paintings will be on display.
A fulltime artist, Sarath followed a five-year diploma in painting and sculpture at the Government College of Fine Arts Colombo in 1968, and then did his post graduate studies – the UNESCO fellowship on painting research at Silpakorn University of Fine Arts in Bangkok, in 1979. His academic qualifications also include a study programme in print making at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. He served as an art project officer to the Education Ministry, a visiting lecturer at the Colombo University and worked as an art director for a number of films and teledramas.
Having participated in over 100 exhibitions, both locally as well as abroad including in countries like Norway, UK, Germany, France, Korea, Australia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Yugoslavia etc, Sarath says, through line drawings, he has the ability to highlight various social problems while paintings on the other hand appeal to the aesthetic senses of the art lover.
Adding that his drawings are based on the themes of politics, romance, fashion, and social issues, he says, incidents that take place in the country on a daily basis often become the source of inspiration for his drawings. “Line drawing is something that I have been doing for a long time,” Sarath says recalling a large solo exhibition held in 1978, featuring a collection of line drawings. The collection indicated his desire to break with tradition, he says, as the paintings he put forth for the exhibition contained controversial ones, to get his message across to the viewer.
“People like this kind of art as they enjoy seeing the artists openly and freely expressing themselves on various social problems which they are reluctant to talk about openly. I am an artist who has expressed my thoughts about the past governments without bias, without hesitation,” Sarath says.
The line drawings apart, his paintings too are very striking, for their elements of cubism where objects are presented by the artist in a multitude of viewpoints rather than just offering a straight angle to the painting. “When you evolve as a painter and when you become innovative, you try to experiment with the canvas and the paint,” he explains.
Visitors to Sarath’s exhibition will also be able to see some of his old paintings kept on permanent display at the gallery. For more information about the exhibition please call 0711235597.