Give this book a title
Janath BALASURIYA
A book certainly is more than its title, more than its contents: it
also is a material object with which we have an intellectual and a
physical relationship. Holding a
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Kingsley Gunatiallake |
book, leafing through its pages, caressing its cover or admiring its
images are part of the reading experience. We all remember the smells of
paper and ink of our first readings. The stories we discovered as
children are both memories of the mind and hands, eyes and heart.
There definitely is an emotional dimension to a book and this is why
a book is a work of art.
Kingsley Gunatillake is exploring deeply into this artistic dimension
but he never forgets its explosive social and intellectual dimensions:
he reminds us, books have been persecuted, because the questions they
raised have put ill at ease, moral or political powers in place. Books
have been forbidden, hidden, torn apart, burnt, disappeared... 'Untitled
Book' is a different and original way of looking at printing matters.
This installation of Kingsley Guntillake, held at Alliance Francaise
within the framework of 'Lire en fete', an annual celebration of reading
taking place in France and in many countries, magnificently celebrates
the object of writing and reading.
Collectables are cast and juxtaposed, forming layers of surface and
textural colour of two three dimensional pieces. It is this visual
vocabularies perhaps reveals new context that stimulate emotion, memory
and transformation.
Kingsley Gunatiallake has held over 30 exhibitions and has
participated in artist workshops both nationally and internationally in
Sri Lanka, Japan, Germany, Scotland, United Kingdom, Philippines,
Ireland, India and Czechoslovakia. He has won many national and
international awards, including first place and award from the best
painting - National Youth Council, National Library Association, 'the
theme of peace'. International Youth Library 40th anniversary.
A graduate from the College of Fine Arts Colombo, (1978). And he went
on to do his higher education at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow,
(1996). At present he is the chairman of the Vibhavi Academy of Fine
Arts (VAFA), and a visiting lecturer at the University of Visual and
Performing Arts, Horton Place, Colombo and University of Kelaniya, Sri
Lanka.
An exhibition/installation by Kingsley Gunatillake Gallery of
I'Alliance Francaise de Colombo will be held from October 9 to 30, 2009.
Weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. |
