On April 24 and 25 this year the J. D. A Perera Gallery of the University of Visual and Performing Arts was the host venue to an exhibition of paintings and sketches by renowned Sri Lankan painter George Beven.
This event organised by a coterie who own works by Beven as part of their personal art collections, had on display for public viewing an array of ‘Bevens’, which showcased a vibrant variety depicting a spectrum of expression across which the artist has over the years marshalled his hand to bring to life a works of art to be applauded and celebrated.
The opening of the event which was on the on April 24, was attended by the artist George Beven himself and saw the participation of several notable personalities from the arts and letters scene.
Cultural imagery
The themes of the works on display ranged from subjects as the unclothed human figure to expressionistic portraiture, to Sri Lankan cultural imagery, to celebrity portraits, to scenes from religious life, as well as abstract expression.
When going over the diversity of Bevens that were on display at the exhibition it was quite evident how the artist had different approaches to the manner in which the ‘face’ of the human figure would be negotiated to suit the mood of the brush or pencil.
For example a painting that had as its subject four women in white saree seated on the ground, engaged in what can be assumed are meditative Buddhist religious observance, bore nondescript faces and was a more Monet like paint daubed impressionist piece compared to the painting depicting two bhikkhus, which show, what I suppose one could say, are partially characterised countenances.
Among the fully charactrised faces found among the works on display were portraiture which also can be categorised according to different features. The pencil and charcoal sketches were by far the works of the most realist expression category while portraits of philanthropist Sunethra Bandaranaike and artist Anoma Wijewardene were painted in the light of more ‘characterised countenances’ and clearly a degree or two (or more) removed from the tradition of realist portraiture.
Eye catching
The central attraction among the collection on display was in my opinion the eye catching portrait of celebrated Sri Lankan novelist Ashok Ferrey and his wife Mandy Mudannayake, which pulsated with ripe ‘tropical flavour’. The composition of colour, form and posture of the subjects of this portrait, make the painting speak of a deft blend of the urbane with a subtle unspoken bohemian vein within the subjects, holding a posture that speaks of a modern couple ensconced in the disposition of contemplative sunny islanders.
The chief organiser behind this exhibition as I got to know when I went to see the exhibition was entrepreneur and art enthusiast Lahiru Pathmalal who provided me the list of all the owners of the Beven pieces that made up the exhibition’s collection.
The list of names is as follows: George Beven and Wolfgang Stange, Romesh de Costa, Deshal and Minu De Mel, Lahiru Pathmalal, Suresh Dominic, Nazreen and Dominic Sansoni, Alex Lowback and Sanna Khaled, Nimisha Welgama, Shanjeev Sriskandaraj, Sidath Dharmapala, Sunethra Bandaranaike, Ranjaka Ariyarathne, Anoma Wijewardene, Ashok Ferrey and Mandy Mudannayake, Shanth Fernando, Nathan Sivagananathan, Sanjeev Alles, Mangala Karunarathne and Dilandra Wimalasekera.
The ladies and gentlemen mentioned above deserve applause for having put together an exhibition of ‘Bevens’ which offered a visually captivating body of work.
Photographs
Lahiru helpfully arranged for the photographs of the opening to be sent to me, for the benefit of the readers of Sunday Observer. The photographs of the opening featured in this article are hereby credited to Malaka Pathmalal.
In my conversation with Lahiru, he said the group of art collectors who offered their pieces by Beven to be part of the exhibition intends to publish an exhibition catalogue in the future.
It is indeed hoped that such a publication project will come to fruition in the near future, in order to have a captivating full pictorial record of the latest exhibition that honoured one of Sri Lanka’s greatest living artists.