Fareed Uduman paintings, poems and cartoons on display

Fareed Uduman (1917-1985) was a truly creative and inspired unknown artist, who for his own impelling reasons and without encouragement from the public or an artistic brotherhood, over his lifetime made dozens of highly original paintings.

All of them were undated and unsigned. He painted on cardboard, hardboard, plywood or on any other material he could lay his hands on. He nailed these to the wall and painted beautiful pictures that nobody understood.

Most of them ended up behind cupboards and doors cobwebbed, dusty and forgotten; pieces of his life, heart and soul; the unquenchable fire that raged within. An enigma to most of his family and friends, he remained a zealous non-conformist right up to the end. Although born a Muslim, he called himself a humanist, an atheist, a communist and a rationalist.

Although most of his early works have perished the family have managed to retrieve around 35 paintings. A posthumous exhibition of his works "Odd Man Out" was held at Gallery 706 in 1993, which amazed viewers. None of the paintings were for sale. Ellen Dissanayake reviewed the exhibition and her greatest tribute was comparing him to Justin Deraniyagala.

Quote from this review: "I would hope that in the history of Sri Lankan art, painters of such intense and original accomplishment as Fareed Uduman will not be overlooked or dismissed simply because they did not happen to be part of the acknowledged avant-garde of their time. Indeed, it is important to rescue and preserve works like his in order someday to chart comprehensively the course of twentieth century painting here."

One of his sons, Jomo Uduman has now published a book that presents his works in brilliant colour. The book also includes his Cartoons published by "The Nation" (an LSSP weekly) which displays his remarkable awareness of local and world politics and his (obvious) communistic leanings. Also included are some remarkable unpublished poems.

The book will be launched at the Dienge Gallery 54, Kitulwatte Road, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 8 on May 14. An exhibition of selected paintings, poems and cartoons will also be on display until May 15.

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