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| Wednesday, 19 January 2005 |
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Paintings with a sharp social comment by R. S. Karunaratne Chandana Ranaweera will hold an exhibition of his latest paintings entitled "Samadhi Chinthana IV" at the Alliance Francaise art gallery in Kandy from January 28 to February 3. Celebrated author Carl Muller will open the exhibition on January 28. The exhibition will be open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. "Samadhi Chinthana IV" is going to be a definite departure from Chandana Ranaweera's earlier paintings executed meticulously with many coloured ball point pens. Being a highly sensitive artist, he seems to have been moved by painful memories buried deep in his psyche. If you view his paintings superficially you will see gods in different poses, veena players and Buddhist monks. Sometimes it is amusing to see some gods clutching their mobile phones, bottles of water and riding on bulls but still carrying a trident. Meanwhile, you see a group of Buddhist monks begging alms. They are bare-footed and unprotected from the scorching sun. With his roots deep in the rural soil of Alawwa, Chandana appears to have been influenced by hordes of men, women and children seeking the intervention of gods in their woes. His paintings depict how gods dominate the lives of villagers. Drawing a kind of poetic inspiration from such scenes, Chandana has portrayed gods in different perspectives. A god carrying a mobile phone instead of a conch or a trident appears to be somewhat bizarre according to conventional standards. Chandana is a product of various cultural forces running in different directions. Therefore, sometimes you have to keep on looking at his painting, for a very long time to unravel its meaning. One consolation is that his paintings occupy small spaces. In other words, he does not paint on large canvases. This helps concentrated viewing easy and profitable. He seems to have given up the ballpoint pen with which he created some of his early paintings. Although they were appreciated by art lovers, Chandana has outgrown that period imbibing various other interests generating in his surroundings. The current exhibition's focus is mainly on gods, the Buddha, Veena players Buddhists monks and drummers. They are created in watercolour. Over the years Chandana has evolved his own personal style without the need to copy or imitate other painters. Although he cannot be classed as someone belonging to a particular group of painters, he has his own perception as a mature artist with a vision. His current exhibition shows us his own idiom and peculiar motif of expression. Most of his paintings depicting gods are a sharp social comment to say the least. Even when he paints drummers, he uses sober colours upholding the sanctity of religious festivals. In some of his recent paintings we see fragments of ola leaves embedded in the artwork implying their sacred tradition. His collages include torn pieces of newspapers, used razer blades and pieces of cloths with jagged edges silently indicating that life itself does not run in a methodical pattern. Those who view his paintings are bound to be baffled by gods with hooded eyes, whimsical mouths and noses. The artist is simply trying to shock them and open their eyes to reality. **** Back **** |
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