Fifty years of pictorialism
Edwin Ariyadasa
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A couple playing flute
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For five long decades he painted. He painted here. He painted in the
Maldives. He painted in water colours, poster colours, powder colours
and in oils. He painted in the traditional Sri Lankan style, in the
Indian manner and in the ways of western paintings.
But, what matters is that, he kept on painting until time came along
for him to celebrate the golden jubilee of his art.
And now, it is celebration time. Art student, professional artist,
art teacher and art administrator Cyril Wickremasinghe shows what
creative peaks he has scaled at an exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art
Gallery.
Synthesizing all the in-puts that nourished his life in the field of
art, he has styled the present exhibition as ‘Swarna Warna’ (Golden
Hues).
His works gleam with a pictorial allure. One could even aver that
they are ‘painterly’. They exude the feel of illustrative art. He
resorts to a palette of primal colours, that befit his style of lyrical
realism.
Artist Cyril Wickremasinghe has evolved into his present status,
through a series of graduated stages. He was born into Kandyan village.
As things are, the rural life around the sacred city of Kandy, pulsates
with an ardour for traditional arts and a deep seated spirituality,
inspired largely, by the presence of the Temple of the Holy Tooth Relic
in the vicinity.
His childhood schooling happened at Nugawela Central College, where
his art teachers assiduously stoked his in-born creativity. Later on, at
Heywood in Colombo, he came under the wing of a distinguished galaxy of
artist-stars – David Paynter being one of them. In his upward mobile
educational career, he passed through the College of Aesthetic
Education, Giragama and graduated from the University of Peradeniya.
Feeding mother |
Village houses |
As an art teacher for 35 years, he both taught art and practised art.
Eventually he travelled to the Maldives to teach art. Back in Sri Lanka,
he had to serve as an Administrative Officer, in areas related to art.
He went over to the Maldives for a second spell as well and
instructed students in art, from 1990 to 2007.
His sojourn in the Maldives, yielded a rich harvest. The scenery in
this kingdom of islands, fascinated him. The leisurely life led in the
Maldives, impressed his artistic sensibility. Men, women, children and
the natural landscape of the Maldives figure in the work he has done
during his days in the Maldives.
Artist Cyril Wickremasinghe was vastly inspired, in the early years
of his creative career, by religious themes and motifs. As an emulative
child artist, he copied temple murals. He continued to derive themes
from the Jataka Tales and other religious materials. This explains why
his paintings communicate a deep sense of serenity and tranquility.
The stylized depiction of trees in some of his paintings is very much
an adaptation of the details, peculiar to temple murals.
His painting of a mother, breast-feeding her infant, under a
night-light is an impressive piece done in a stylized pattern. The
maternal female figure is voluptuous, even to the point of being erotic.
The cat in the corner of the room, is whimsically depicted. The
night-scene beyond the window, imparts a 3-D effect to the painting.
He has done a whole series of paintings to portray scenes from rural
life, communicating an idyllic way of existence.
His stylized painting of a young romantic flautist and his comely
beloved, dallying on the bank of a night river, possesses a haunting
allure.
His paintings are best described as ‘beautiful’. You do not have even
the trace of a harshness in them. They do not have complex, abstract
elements that will disturb the viewers.
Artist Cyril Wickremasinghe’s art, ramifies into a variety of fields.
As a commercial artist, he designs labels and book covers. When
requested he fashions logos.
Cyril Wickremasinghe’s latest exhibition of art, will open at 3.30 pm
on January 21, at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery. |
