Exploring the shades of Black and White

City

•  Dr. Manoranjana wanted to build unity and help artists work together
• The Art had been created by the use of various media
• Artists managed to give life to inanimate objects and deepen the meaning of human existence
• Black and white are two strong and bold colours

The Group Exhibition of Visual Arts held at the J. D. A. Perera Art Gallery proved to be an impressive event with many awe-inspiring artworks by Sri Lankan and Indian artists. The Event titled “Shades of Black and White” exhibited numerous art pieces that displayed various emotions in the colours black and white.

The curator of this event Dr. Manoranjana Herath chose the theme to be ‘Shades of black and white’ as he feels that the artists working differently with different attitudes, styles, concepts and views, all have a connection that resembles the shades of these two pure colours. The ‘Human being’, who carries both good qualities as well as the bad, has encouraged the main objective of the exhibition to provide the society with a decent message to build together in one space. As Dr. Manoranjana stated, the tones of black and white resembled the heartbeat of life.

Introducing ‘black’ onto a white space or ‘white’ onto a black space allows the artist to experience a kind of excitement as if breaking through and entering a different world, which is not similar to the usual world filled with colours.

The works of five Indian artists were exhibited and this brought about a wonderful opportunity for the artists of Sri Lanka to meet and share each other’s views and perspectives. Dr. Manoranjana wanted to build unity and help artists work together and develop the field of Visual Arts.

Walking down the gallery filled with sensational paintings of 37 skilled artists can send the viewer into a state of awe. The Art had been created by the use of various media. Acrylic, Chinese ink on canvas, Oil on canvas, Ink and chalk on drawing paper, Charcoal, carbon and pigment ink were only a few of the media used. Japanese ink on rice paper drew special attention. Paper cut-outs displayed the island’s true nature and newspapers were used as media to show the meaning of simulation. 

The content of the collection displayed along the gallery walls seemed to create the illusion of exploring the creative human minds. From dreams to reality, the artists managed to give life to inanimate objects and deepen the meaning of human existence.

Artists’ patience and purpose

‘The scream’, ‘Doubts’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Nevermore’, ‘Nightscape’, ‘Spirit’, ‘City’, ‘Obsessive love’ and ‘More important than money’ were a few of the titles of the pieces of art exhibited. Every stroke and the tiniest details narrated the artists’ patience and purpose.

Nilanthi Weerasekera, a Sri Lankan artist, shared her experience of creating her artwork titled ‘Fabricated women’. Despite the colour theme being new to her, she proved her capabilities by presenting three extraordinary paintings that depicted the moods and inner emotions through lines, textures and shapes and the use of body parts of a woman. Her objective was to create great impressions as a female artist in the society where many male artists worked in the field of Visual Arts. 

Three Indian artists shared their views about the theme ‘Shades of black and White’. Punkaj Manav’s work bears no trace of reference to anything recognizable. He draws inspiration from nature and music and uses the intangible elements of sound and division of time to create his art. Instead of portraying the common recogniaable forms, he explores and works with the contents that are confined to our thoughts to create unknown forms. This is shown in his work titled ‘Mystic Journey’ putting pen and ink on acid free paper.

Hem Raj, another Indian artist, stated that the ‘Night’ was his inspiration. In his perspective, black was black and white was white and these two colours resembled ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Lie’. By mixing these colours he displayed the shades of truths and lies in his work titled, “Incessant Reminiscence” done using oil on canvas.

Mohan Shingne, inspirational Indian artist, explained that the shades of black and white were the ‘play of our life’. Leaving words behind and listening to the sound beyond any language, he wanted to see the colours separated from symbols and wanted to separate lines from any forms. He wanted to leave space and look into inner space. His work involved acrylic on canvas.

Each and every piece of art in the gallery possessed a story of its own. Visiting the gallery helped the viewer to visit the minds of the artists, to get lost in their worlds and to understand the artist’s point of view. 

Black and white are two strong and bold colours that hold the meanings of the other colours within.  All colours are absorbed in the colour ‘black’ and reflected in ‘white’. Therefore, ‘Shades of black and white’ served as the ideal theme for the exhibition.