k o o ii

Colombo Art Biennale (3) Imagining Peace a review

2009-09-16T12:46:00.009+05:30

Talking to Anuradha Henakaarachchi about his work "The Death of the Twins", I was briefly transported back to the days I was still a mere journalist. Roaming the remote jungles of this world to talk to people who had been waging a war their whole lives, I often found they had nothing to say about it. That is: nothing meaningful.

Anuradha's photo installation "Death of the Twins" grabbed me for its effective simplicity. The image of the New York twin towers, burnt onto everyone's retina, was recreated by the artists with the use of straw mats and a toy airplane.
AH is a sculptor, so he first constructed the towers out of mats, then photographed them from a low angle, against a blue sky, let a toy plane enter the frame, hit the towers and burn them down.
I thought I could easily read his message as follows: The attack on the twin towers shocked the West, seeing itself no longer as the aggressor but as the aggressed. However, for many decades numerous countries and cultures had their 'straw mats' attacked by Western powers. These attacks were equally devastating, just less media coverage.
The straw mat as a metaphor for all non-western countries is a powerful one. Not in the least because the straw mat is a damn nice and useful household gadget. And just like the cultures it is generated by, seriously undervalued. But alas! no such thing was part of the artists analysis. Speaking trough a translator, AH said he just wanted to create the world event as part of his own experience. He had not been there, not on the plane and not in the towers. By reconstructing the event -during an Art Camp mind you, so plenty of guidance on hand to help the struggling artist along- he recreated the experience for himself.
Okay....there must be something missing, either in translation or in my comprehension, but I felt a pang of disappointment at this explanation.

AH is a member of the loosely fitted artist group Colombo Artist. Overall they had a good exhibition, with a number of interesting entries by Amarajeewa and Kingsley Gunatilleke, whose book project will feature in a separate blogpost.

Colombo Art Biennale (2) Imagining Peace a review

2009-09-16T11:30:00.019+05:30

While well organised and a memorable event, it is kOOii's impression that the CAB missed out on the opportunity to show the Colombo public anything new. All the artists represented at the show have been frequent exhibitors at the local gallery scene, and most of their work did not really deviate from anything we have seen them do before. Cora de Lang, Sanjeewa Kumara, Kingsley Gunatilleke, Chandragupta Thenuwara, Anoma Wijewardena, Saskia Pringiers and Druvinka - a list of names that anyone remotely interested in local art would ratlle off without thinking and anyone who has ever stumbled on an art show on their way to eat, drink and shop would have seen at least once.

What was definitely missing were the start-ups, the young (or old) not so known names and talents and the individuals which have not been associating with the three main collectives: Theertha, VAFA and Colombo Artists. kOOii considers this a missed opportunity.

So, working with the good old crowd, the theme these artist had to follow - Imagining Peace- proved a label that was easily slapped on work that was already in existence. I think that -with the exception of Druvinka and the Kumari's (short for : Sanjeewa Kumara and Sujeewa Kumari) - the state of turmoil in this country has been the theme of any self respected artist for so many years. Case in point is Vafa's front man Chandragupta Thenuwara: his work has always been on the edge of controversial in the way it has addressed the state of conflict in Sri Lanka.

Vafa Pavillion: you are either for, or against us!

The VAFA pavillion was again the most impressive. A huge wall divided the space in two telling the audience that You are either for us or against us. There is no way you can be one! A not so hidden criticism of the policies regarding minorities in the country now the war has been declared WON. The wall was constructed by individual artists; each explaining in their own way how this wall was being kept erect. kOOii's favorite wall part was by Anusha Gajaweera, who's flock of crows dressed up like doves, came flying out of newspapers, wearing neckties to symbolize the hypocrisie of male political power (words not by artist).

Anusha's wall at the Vafa Pavillion

You can call me a simpleton, but I really, really liked it. It has humor and provided a good balance for the bleak wall of cruelty put up by Thenuwara which was as timely as it was daring.

Channel 4 look alike on Thenuwara's wall

Sanjeewani in front of her lace wall

Colombo Art Biennale (1) Imagining Peace

2009-09-16T10:15:00.015+05:30

The past weekend saw large crowds gather around the old warehouses in Park Street to visit the first ever Colombo Art Biennale. (technically this is not correct: the Sri Lanka Arts Council held an Art Biennale at the National Gallery 2 years ago but I guess that event is easily overlooked for its lack of pr etc.)

This time PR was definitely not lacking, and hurray!!!! for all organizers and sponsors who made this event happen. It was immensely enjoyable, the weather was divine and the number of parties just right (all the time, that is!)

Friday night cocktails

Colombo's trendy diplomatic corps

Jagath Weerasinghe of Theertha artists collective hoping to impress the Aussie HC

The Biennale venue was divided into 6 pavilions, distributed among the city's main commercial galleries (Barefoot & Saskia Fernando), and the best know artist collectives (Theertha, VAFA and Colombo Artists) while Sri Lankan art icon Anup Vega had his own space.
For a kOOii review of the art event click here

Biennale venue

Prageeth Manohansa's dancefloor

Anuraddha's straw mat 9/11

Colombo Artists Pavillion

Erasing Camouflage

2009-07-28T17:00:00.012+05:30

For a good many years Chandragupta Thenuwara was entirely known for his "barrelism", a term which derived from the period in which he turned the roadblocks of this besieged country into works of art. The camouflaged oil drums, after being dragged into the white cube, became a synonym for his personal statement about Sri Lanka's civil war, in particular the loss of respect for the individual, and of civility.
Each year his one man shows - always in the month of July in the non profit Lionel Wendt Gallery in Colombo- were continuations on the subject matter. After the barrels came the more sophisticated road barriers and the camouflage theme remained. Critics and supporters were wondering where it would go next and if in any case Thenuwara had not cornered himself too much with his signature topic?
His latest show "Erasing Camouflage: Post-Barrelism" has been helped along by recent political developments in Sri Lanka. In May this year the 30-year war on the Tamil Tigers was officially declared "over". As Thenuwara says in his statement - at least some aspects of the war that terrorized our society and disrupted our lives, have now come to an end. But that is by no means to say the peace has been won. Terror and displacement are not at an end and have many different faces.

The works in this exhibition are meant as an open invitation to consider de-militarization of society. The question the artist here is posing is: if the face of war is camouflage, what should then be the face of peace?
Thenuwara tells us that the time has come to take away all signs of camouflage, and not allow for these to be replaced by other combat symbols such as the singular ethnic & religious red-yellow-blue flag.
The show consists of a series of canvasses which evolve from traditional green-yellow(military) towards the yellow, blue & red (Singhalese flag) and slowly turning into white (Buddhism). The all white canvas with the all white Singhala inscription reads: "There is no such thing as colour now. There is only white or black".
The pile of sand which looks like an open mass grave, and the white pillars of a shot-to-pieces home, speak for themselves or rather for "Un commemorable Memories". The artists would like to impress on us that there can't be heroism in war. There can only be heroism in peace.

In the current political climate, the warning the artist sends us is of a courageous nature. In the absence of an internationally agreed definition of terrorism I always like to quote Hannah Arendt: Totalitarianism is the iron band of terror which destroys the plurality of men and makes out of many the One who unfailingly will act as though he himself were part of the course of history or nature.
Thenuwara here has made himself One out of Many for which I congratulate and applaud him.

Mahen Perera's Canvas Attack

2009-06-11T08:22:00.005+05:30

This title does not very accurately reflect the work of Mahen Perera, but I thought it would get you reading. Please continue:
Attacking a canvas is what Sri Lankan artist Mahen actually does, but he does it with passion and devotion, not in any blind rage.
Perera graduated from Singapore's La Salle, which already sets him apart from most of his contemporaries who -- flogging themselves through four years of domestic institutional drudgery-- lack the exposure and inspiration an open art environment brings, and as a result produce limittless amounts of blackened human shapes on oversized canvasses.
Perera is a researcher. He looks for what is real in his paintings. The pretty and decorative realistic pictures he originally painted, had to go. By scrubbing clean his canvasses, erasing the unwanted prettyness, he stumbled upon a real emotion. His canvasses became sculptures, intense and beautiful and ....disturbing.
Time Lost & Found is the title of this delightful exhibition.Please do yourself a favor and go and see his work at Barefoot.

here is a peek
read more about Mahen Perera here and here, or here

Conversations 2 -Berengere Brooks

2009-06-11T07:31:00.011+05:30

As far as women are concerned, having children might be one of life's most transitional times, changing the way we feel about others and about ourselves. Berengere Brooks has captured the emotions of women surrounding motherhood in her installation "Conversations" of which a preview was held at the kOOii Art Space last Sunday (see earlier entry).
In the video "Women" she shows the viewer about the seemingly conflicting but intrinsically contemporary female emotions of wanting or having children.
In "Mothers " she allows mothers of young daughters to reflect on their own mothers. Juxtaposed, these two short videos leave the viewer with sense of humanity that must be empowering to many.
Brooks is not the first artist to explore motherhood and womanhood from these angles, and won't be the last. Her approach however validates peoples natural ability for love and exalts common feelings as part of the turmoil which surrounds our lives and relationships.

Some images of the preview at kOOii:

My Great Love: Stereophonic Installation 1"29" Women talking about their big love, how much they can love someone and talk about moments of intimacy.

Paintings in acrylic on brown paper
The Origin of The World Photograph 24 x 38 inch
A direct reference to the famous Courbet painting "the Origin of the World" (1866). Where does the world start? Where do we come from? Do we become women by giving birth? What happens if it is not a natural birth? Have we failed in any way? What about women who choose not to give birth naturally?

6 Months in the Office -photographic installation
My first day in the office...how was it? How do each of us mark our territory in a working space? And where are the human beings? Can we still keep our individuality in there?

for a review of the preview in The Bottom Line newspaper click here

“Conversations” - Preview of work by Berengere Brooks

2009-06-01T14:54:00.008+05:30

French artist, theatre - and fashion designer Berengere Brooks, is returning to conceptual work with new work in the exhibition “Conversations”. Brooks is exploring motherhood, women-hood, but also our working spaces, through the use of different media such as video, photography, installation and painting.

Addressee

Berengere Brooks’ background in theatre design has almost certainly influenced her choice of working with installations, where space, props sounds or lighting all become part of the experience.

The 3-dimensional component of installation art allows the viewer to become an active part of the artwork by simply walking into the space or - as it is the case with one of her latest works- by sitting down in a comfortable armchair.

Brooks creates her videos using bits of interviews she held with various women she has met – and assembled these bits as one would cut and paste pieces of paper to make a more traditional collage.

Talking to women about certain issues like motherhood and relationships with other women in their lives, has also led her to investigate her own behaviour and her everyday life. Women and gender issues have always been her predominant subject, and she has expanded the focus to include issues relating to children,siblings and mothers.

By making herself a character of her own fiction she follows in the footsteps of French contemporary female artists Sophie Calle and Annette Messager.

The themes of individuality and inability to communicate emerge from these last works as a struggle that each of us has to face, both in our work and our family environment.

Without giving us answers, Berengere Brooks makes us look closely and from a different angle at our own relationships with our immediate kith and kin. Is that not the role of any artist?

kOOii Art Space presents an exclusive preview of her work on Sunday 7 June. from 10 am-6 pm

Sri Lanka in Spain

2009-06-01T14:42:00.004+05:30

Cora de Lang, the German-Argentinian artist who currently lives in Sri Lanka, is representing her host-country at an art exhibition in Barceloneta, a suburb of cool Barcelona.
The exhibition "The Sixth Continent" opens on the 4th of June at the Civic Centre in Barceloneta.
She is the only "Asian " artist participating in this show, curated by Patrícia Fernández.

The Sri Lankan Pages 2

2009-06-01T10:05:00.008+05:30

The Sri Lankan Pages, the exhibition by the cosmopolitan kiwi artist Chrys Hill, was a well received event as these images will confirm. The remarks in the guest book revealed that many people are sad to see Chrys leave Sri Lanka.
Read an interview with Chrys Hill in The Bottom Line web edition

Exhibition The Sri Lankan Pages

2009-05-26T11:39:00.011+05:30

‘The Sri Lankan Pages’ is the title of an exhibition of new work by New Zealand artist Chrys Hill, which will be on show at the kOOii Art Space this weekend 30-31 May 2009.

The works for this show consist of fragments made up from images and moments in Sri Lanka. These separate images are presented as a collected experience. As the title of the show reflects The Sri Lankan Pages is much like pages from a book that have been removed and relocated onto a wall.

Some of the units are exhibited as individual pieces, allowing for people to collect them as a separate work or to combine groupings of them into their own combinations. Regardless of how you approach this exhibition the works should provide a rich visual experience and opportunities to reflect.

Chrys has spent the last 11 years working and travelling abroad. He has been exhibiting since 1970 and has featured in a large number of solo and group shows in a variety of countries including New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, India, United Kingdom.

This show is his first Sri Lankan exhibition and comes at the conclusion of a 2 year residency in Colombo where he has been teaching Art at the Overseas School of Colombo.

The Sri Lankan Pages at kOOii art space on Saturday 30 May& Sunday 31 May 2009 from 3-6 pm

saskia fernando gallery

2009-05-24T11:16:00.006+05:30

It was high time that Colombo would get its first real art gallery, meaning a building exclusively devoted to contemporary art and not as a fringe event to a creative business.

While Barefoot and Paradise Road Galleries remain interesting places, the new Saskia Fernando Gallery is such a perfect place it is hard to know where to begin to describe it!

To start with the space itself: a glorious little building right in Colpetty with a lovely atmosphere, good light and a great little courtyard, that most of the time features work by fast rising star Prageeth Manohansa.
Then there is the rotating exhibition schedule with artworks by well known artists such as Jagath Weerasinghe, Chandragupta Thenuwara, Anoma Wijewardena and Saskia Pringiers combined with the younger generation of Theertha artists such as Thisath Thoradeniya (click on link to see the kOOii blog entry on his power plugs and switch boards).

Each piece is carefully chosen to create a coherence in colour and atmosphere to allow the viewer to see each work as an entity as well as part of a larger (Sri Lankan) story. Owner Saskia Fernando knows how to make sure each work find its place , a talent that she might have gained through DNA as much as through experience. She said she will still remain the curator of her fathers Paradise Road Gallery.
The gallery is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm and by appointment
61 Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

Cool Stuff

2009-05-19T08:35:00.005+05:30

Feel like celebrating today? Check out these fun t-shirts designed by Moasa, a 22-year young digital artist/designer based in Gampaha.

Go for these and more funky designs and ideas to his website

excuse me for not carving

2009-05-18T17:23:00.004+05:30

The American Center is celebrating its 60th Anniversary. To mark the occasion, the U.S. Embassy is organizing a sculpture competition.
Artists are requested to submit sculptures under the excruciatingly bland and boring theme:

Carving 60 years of Friendship.

What does that mean? Only carvings are considered sculptures?

Anyhow, any respected artist in this economic recession will be pleased to carve something, just so they can win Rs. 100.000/= and a certificate signed by the U.S. Ambassador.
Selected entries will be exhibited at the American Center. A panel of Sri Lankan and American judges will select a winning sculpture.

Entries should be sent to the American Center, 44, Galle Road, Colombo 03.
Closing date 14 June 2009 at 5:30pm
To get hold of a registration form or for further information you may contact Chamalie/ Aruni on 2498106 or 2498163 or send an email to amcentersl@state.gov

kOOii would of course like to submit Dumith Kulasekara’s “masculinity”(see image). But while the dummy could be easily anybody’s friend for more than 60 years, the jurors might be upset that it is not a carving.

Art at Lunuganga

2009-05-12T14:53:00.010+05:30

Lunuganga is a breathtakingly beautiful place. The late Geoffrey Bawa, the only internationally known architect and designer of Sri Lanka, spent 40 years transforming this abandoned rubber estate on the island’s west coast into a tropical idyll, with elegant Italianate gardens, courtyards, pools, walkways, pavilions – and inspirational views over the lake and jungle.

I know you have always wanted to visit, but the last 10 times you went to the South Coast beaches you have driven past, saving it for next time!

Next time will be this coming Sunday, 24 May. Art at Lunuganga is an art exhibition organised by artist Anoma Wijewardena and her students.
The exhibition opens on 24 May and stays on until the 31st of May. There is no need for registration and entry is free on Sunday. The other days an entry fee of 600 rupees applies.
Hidden Pavilion by Indra McCormick (see top) is one of the many beautiful works on display.

For more info about Lunuganga, or about other events during Geoffrey Bawa week, go to www.geoffreybawa.com

kOOii Goes Eco Campaign Update

2009-05-12T14:00:00.004+05:30

kOOii is planting a tree for every artwork sold. At the last auction we collected donations and sold enough artworks to distribute 34 trees! That is right!
The trees have been donated to neighbours, mostly small farmers in the Talangama Lake area outside Colombo.
Other trees have been planted with the help of artist Channa Ekanayake, who has also assisted in the selection of the best suited tree for the lakeside environment.

Thanks to all who have supported this green initiative!

BIDDING RESULT

2009-03-17T20:04:00.002+05:30

The first kOOii auction has come to an end. A few pieces were hotly contested until 7pm. The new owners are now known and will be contacted by email.

The response of most art lovers was very positive. If you prefer auctions over fixed prices please let us know through our survey on the right hand side.

kOOii Art Auction

2009-03-17T10:39:00.008+05:30

Last Sunday's Art Auction at the kOOii art space was a first for Sri Lanka. Art lovers could bid on the works of Prageeth Manohansa and Channa Ekanayake. The bidding closes today at 7 pm after which time the works will be sold to the highest bidder. Remaining works at the exhibition will be priced normally for the duration of the show. Visits by appointment only. For bidding list click here

Get Ready for Auction 2

2009-03-10T22:21:00.035+05:30

Artist profile: Prageeth Manohansa (Sri Lanka, 1976) studied art & sculpture at the Hindu Benares University, India and obtained a BFA from the University of Kelaniya in Colombo, where he focused solely on assemblage and collage art.
In 2008 he was selected to take part in the 13th Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh. Most recently his work was on view at the exhibition 'Artful Resistance' in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, Austria, organized by the Serendib Gallery, Colombo, which has several of his works in its private collection. The Paradise Road Gallery Collection has several pieces and so does the newly opened Saskia Fernando Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Minimum bids are 15.000 LKR (bidding below this target will be or will not be accepted at the discretion of the artist) Bids on the following lots stand at:

Lot no 1: Gaya Mask- 80 x 60 cm

Lot no 2: Mask- 54 cm height
Lot no 3: Workers' dream - width 155 cm
Lot no 4: Ganesh 47 x 47 cm
Lot no 5: villager 71 cm height
Lot no 6: Ganesh 42 x 26 cm
Lot no 7: Meditation 57 cm height
Lot no 8: Ganesh 44 cm
Lot no 9: Bird 100 cm
Lot no 10: Girl - 40 cm height

Lot no 11: Dali -43 cm
Lot no 12: Grasshopper 36 x 56 cm
Lot no 13: Embrace- 150 cm incl stand
Lot no 14: Ganesh 61 x 90 cm
Lot no 15: Peacock 1,70 cm height
Lot no 16: Extinguish the flame - 80 cm height
Lot no 17: Ganesh 51 x 34 cm
Lot no 18: Bull 100 x 70 cm
Lot no 19: Ganesh 47 cm
Lot no 20: Buddha- 30 cm
Lot no 21: Mask 70 cm

Get Ready for Auction

2009-03-03T12:11:00.010+05:30

For the first time in Sri Lanka, contemporary artists will use an auction to sell their work and to promote the environment. Artists Channa Ekanayake and Prageeth Manohansa will showcase some of their best pieces, offer these at low starting prices and sell to the highest bidder. For each work sold, they will plant a tree.

At the auction on Sunday the 15^th of March, at the kOOii Gallery in Hokandara, art lovers will be invited to bid on their favorite art work. The process of bidding is silent. No hammers, no public squabble but instead buyers will make an offer on paper, either in person at the gallery or by telephone or email. The auction will close at 7pm on Tuesday 17 March, after which the artwork will be sold to the highest bidder.

All works at the exhibition will have the same starting price: 15.000 LKR. The smallest, simplest work by each artists is normally sold for 25.000 LKR while prices for larger pieces can reach 90.000 LKR or more.

This will be a one-off opportunity to get the piece you want for the price you want!

Auction facts:

The auction starts on Sunday 15 March at 4 pm at the kOOii Gallery and closes at 7pm on 17 March.
Preview of work on Saturday 14 March at the kOOii Gallery
Preview online from 12 March at this blog
Bidding starts at 15.000 LKR for all available works. Each new bid should increase with 1000 LKR or a multiple of this amount.
All bidding is done silently and in private. Updates on bids will be made public via this blog and/or by email to bidders directly offering the opportunity for buyers to increase their bid.
The artwork will be sold to the highest bidder on the18 of March
For each artwork sold, kOOii will donate a tree to be planted around the Talangama tank.

kOOii Gallery is located at 480 Lake Road in Hokandara (off Akuregoda Road)

power plugs at red dot gallery

2009-02-16T08:42:00.005+05:30

Girl plug. Boy plug. Female socket, male jack. + and -
Thisath Thoradeniya toys with the gender references given equipment in the electrical and mechanical trade where connectors and fasteners are conventionally designated male or female.

By blowing up ordinary, everyday sockets and plugs, he shows us how male and female sexual symbolism can be found (or seen) in the shapes and motifs of what surround us.
His sculptures, titled 'You and Me" are made out of steel and fiberglass.
Plugs made of fiberglass; Size 18 x 18 x 16 cm.

The exhibition by Thisath Thoradeniya (curated by Anoli Perera) is on at Red Dot gallery from 15th February to 4 March. Gallery hours are from Monday to Wednesday from 11 am- 4.30 pm
Call for details: 011-2865900

Indian Art : Madras

2009-02-12T19:12:00.005+05:30

Traveling from Colombo to the nearest foreign city brings you to Chennai (or Madras). It is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and the art scene is thriving. (this is in comparison: the Indians themselves think that the only art of importance happens in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkota.
A gallery visit brought me to the Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art, where the Indigo & Laburnum Gallery presented Perspecta. The exhibition with work of 6 women artists, curated by collector Sanjay Tulsyan included work from Mithu Sen, Parvathi Nayar and Benitha Perciyal K.
In 2008 Benitha participated in an artist camp in Sri Lanka, and I instantly recognized her signature in the natural dyes, leaves, seeds and handmade paper.photo: within and without 2009 mixed media on paper mache- photo courtesy of Galerie 88

At the workshop in Hanthana, she had decorated a room in an abandoned house with teabags:

The work in Madras -where she is from- showed a more personal narrative. She uses her natural pigments from various plants and herbs to make images about self-exploration and personal events and stories. I was so pleasantly surprised to hear about her experience in Sri Lanka, of which not all an be repeated here. Let's just say that I hope some seeds of her talent and artistic maturity have been sown on Lanka soil and will come to bloom at some point!
photo: grow or you will remain a dead seed- 2009 mixed media on paper- photo courtesy of Gallery 88 and the artists

Kolo Pola Art Fair 2009

2009-01-28T16:20:00.008+05:30

Spotting and catching thrends at the annual Kola Pola Art Fair in Colombo last Sunday kOOii has decided that in 2009 screen prints are the new canvasses. Such as this one by
Academy of Art Student Omali:

Another favorite was Prageeth Manohansa who's eco-fabulous recycled car parts were much in demand. The GODDESS of Kateragama found a buyer, much to the chagrin of kOOii:

Please contact kOOii if you are interested in seeing more work by these and other excellent artists

Pandora's Box

2009-01-22T11:40:00.008+05:30

Fabulous colors and intricate details are the trade marks of Cora de Lang's work. Other specifics are : Cora's combination of odd materials and what I would call her absolutely fanatical need to weave strange and colorful stories on them. This time it is airline sickbags and sanitary bags, old perfume boxes and paper gift bags, which formed the canvas for her collages and drawings. Cora's show Pandora's Box is currently on at the Red Dot Gallery, a place she has aptly transformed into a Latina dream world, laced with lotus ponds and tigers. An absolute must see. Cora hails from Argentina, but settled in Colombo nearly 3 years ago. Previously she lived and worked in India, Germany, Mexico and Nigeria. Her life as a modern nomad has influenced what she paints, but has equally forced her into a struggle to make a personal claim on adoptive cultures
.
Pandora's Box includes a series of digital works, printed on canvas on top of which the artist has pinted with permanent ink and acrylic.

Cora;s work ios on view until the 9th of February at Red Dot Gallery.
Open from Sunday to Wednesdays. For more information call: 011 2865900

Boring Bags No More

2008-12-08T08:36:00.006+05:30

Versatile artist Cora de Lang is known to turn everyday objects into works of art. She takes not just any object, but seeks out those with some significance to her personal life. She has now extended her creativity to the object least likely to use as a canvas for art: the airline sick bag.

Cora de Lang:"Out of the uniformity of bags – neglected and unused- I've tried to suggest the multiplicity of human conditions. Somehow I feel that these bags belong to the passengers, even more, the bags may stand for each of the passengers and his very personal disposition at that particular flight. And as there is a huge variety of people on each flight, I felt myself called upon to individualize each of the bags to suggest the uniqueness of the passenger it was meant for."

Cora is represented by kOOii Artists Support. For more information please contact us.

Artist Profile : the bits and pieces of Prageeth Manohansa

2008-12-04T12:27:00.014+05:30

Manohansa in his workshop in Gampaha Sri Lanka
Sculptor Prageeth Manohansa is an incisive image-maker who assembles his artwork out of car parts and old agricultural tools. In "Meeting" a series of spades becomes a group of people.
"Each spade represents a laborer or a factory worker, a mere tool in production. From a distance they all look the same, but up close you can see I made each one to look like an individual", says Manohansa who studied sculpture in India and Colombo.
He is using material salvaged from scrap chosen for their specific texture and shape.

A buddha' image constructed out of a Honda gasoline tank or the multiple arms of Shiva made from car breaks, symbolizing the power to exercise control.
Collage - the art of making images out of different materials -has been central to modern art in the last century. Manohansa's compositions are insightful, funny and moving. A pair of boots under a metal tin sarong represent the confrontation between village life and city life, its result a bunch of torn and curled up rusty wires.

Contact kOOii for more information on his work including prices.
sarong with boots, -scrap metal &leather
face- scrap metal & wire

giant crab- scrap metal

His work is currently on view at the exhibition 'Artful Resistance' in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, Austria