Master strokes daubed with simplicity & satire
An unerring eye for society’s struggles (above) and below left more of his work. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
With his broad, robust strokes, ‘sun-drenched’ colours and deep symbolism, S.H. Sarath has been one of our most prolific artists, having exhibited from Canada to Australia (literally traversing a world map with great success) yet never having lost his common touch – the disarming smile and the soul and art fostered first in the village vihara, and the beachside tranquility of Weligama with its southern breeziness.
With his new exhibition, ‘1972: First Journey’ now on at the Lionel Wendt (his second home – where he has done most of his Lankan exhibitions) Sarath brings something new and something old, the latter for the younger generations who missed out on his previous oeuvre such as the puckish digs at contemporary society from the ’seventies onwards, the abstract landscapes, and the classic portraits of Madonna and child with all the Kandyan grace of temple murals.
The exhibition harks back to that significant year, fifty years ago, when Tissa Ranasinghe, then principal of Heywood, hired the Wendt for two of his promising pupils Henry Newton Perera and Sarath to have their first ever show.
The rest is history, but none of it has gone to his head. As he gets ready for the exhibition in a house stacked with canvases, there is much to marvel at but he is humble.
Sarath is well known for his satirical drawings (something of a surprise given his shy nature). These take up considerable time of his ‘morning sketching’- mostly political caricatures done at dawn. They are as galvanising as they are impish. Take, for instance, the picture of god Vessa Valahaka (the Sinhalese deity who ensures regular rains) applying for PR in a foreign country because of our cupidity and tree felling; poor people climbing greasy poles to get at daily meals; a modern version of a latrine coolie (representing the poor) carrying a kada at each end of which dangle a commode with the bourgeoisie enthroned.
S.H. Sarath: The humble artist
Then there are the abstract Parisian belles, the gentle couplings (his work has been praised for the ‘sensuality of skin on skin’), the Kandyan-cubist people who take us to depths of Occidental- Eastern amalgamation, deities that exude subtle mysticism.
Two of the most intricately detailed paintings to be exhibited show the fates of the elephant and the cow – two beasts that have had a close tango with humankind. These have that simple, native view (rather like a Kandyan moral tale if there ever was one) and show how we have exploited both ruthlessly. Each painting ends with a solid message leaving no doubt about what should be done practically.
This co-existence of the abstract with the purely didactical, is part of Sarath’s charm.
Among patrons who fostered Sarath’s talent as a youth with enthusiasm were the late Nalini Wickremesinghe with her deep passion for the local arts, Martin Wickremesinghe, others including Chandrika Bandaranaike, Charles Abeysekere, Ashley Halpe, Sumana Saparamadu, Edwin Ariyadasa and current President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
As he potters about his dark cavernous living room, more mementos of an illustrious life are seen from an exhibition at the United Nations in 2018 (when as many as 8000 viewers welled around his work each day); accolades from the Kalasuri to the honour of designing the Western Province flag to many a trophy from abroad…
But “I don’t know if I’d be able to hold another exhibition” he says as we leave and his face crinkles with that guileless smile.
We are sure of one thing: that S.H. Sarath’s mark has been indelibly left on the canvas of this island.
‘1972: First Journey’ is open from November 19- 21 from 10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Gallery.
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