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Arts Where life is
eternally sublime "I worked
as a commercial artist a long time ago," he says, recalling
those early days. "I loved to experiment with different techniques
and media, pastels, watercolours, and scraperboards. I drew billboards
and advertisements on commercial vehicles. In the late 1960s, I
even painted a mural about six feet on the back wall of the Savoy
cinema in Wellawatte." "However,
my first attempt at pure art was with Ivor Baptiste. Once while
I was watching him paint, he turned to me and said, 'Let me see
you paint.' And I did." "It was
then I discovered the excitement and pleasure of painting with oils.
I had painted a dark skinned Negombo fisherman, and Ivor bestowed
the fisherman with a pair of sparkling blue eyes," Melville
continued. The beautiful
landscapes, the sunsets, the trees, the villagers, the fisherfolk
speak of the world as he sees the world himself. And it is also
a mark of his own unique style. I have been
painting landscapes for a long time, as I love nature. And as an
artist I like to depict it in its full glory, and show viewers the
beauty of nature, as we rarely do appreciate it," he elaborated.
Landscapes
and seascapes entail a lot of travelling, he admits. But it is something
he enjoys very much. "A place which has fascinated me most
is Kataragama. The trees in that area have a personality of their
own, and it gives me great joy to capture them in my paintings."
The Southern
beaches, and Anuradhapura also mesmerize him. Anuradhapura, with
its rich culture is something amazing to capture on canvas to show
to people. "I try to show not only the historical side of it
but also the romantic and magical side, which most people disregard,"
explained Melville. Impressionism
is the style of art, which influences him most, he explained when
asked why he concentrated on light and shadow so much. "Careful
studies of Van Gogh, and Rembrandt and Impressionist artists, have
shown me the importance of light in a painting." And yes, in
most of his paintings, one could clearly see the play of light on
the faces of people. But what has
Melville most captivated are trees. There are a number of different
varieties of trees in nearly all his paintings. "Trees have
their own personality. And by adding trees into my paintings, I
try to give life to them, the same way people are added. Whenever
I am travelling in Sri Lanka or elsewhere, I am on the look out
for trees which tell a story, and then when I incorporate them into
a painting, I try to make sure that the story will be told."
Melville Assauw's
paintings are not only a means of self-expression for himself. They
offer us a glimpse of life as it is meant to be; pure, eternal and
sublime. And most importantly in harmony with nature. "Different Strokes"; an exhibition of oil paintings by Melville Assauw will be open to the public at the Lionel Wendt Gallery from November 15 - 17, from 10.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. Beauty
in the ordinary If you see
Anup Vega making a drawing or a painting, what he achieves in the
end is the deliverance of something full of spontaneous grace and
insights unique to him. His obsession
is with his immediate surroundings. It does not need any justification
or explanation. It is the world he inhibits and his sole object
of desire. "There
is no such thing as art, there are only artists," - these words
of E.H. Gombrich in his Story of Art, fits Anup Vega perfectly.
Anup Vega is the ultimate artist, swayed by an intensely personal
muse, who speaks for the artist and his works, whether they be drawings
in his sketch book or paintings on canvas. In these works, the ordinary
becomes transcendental. He makes the quotidian contentments of life
communicable through the uncomplicated simplicity of his art. Anup
Vega's studio, the surroundings of his house in a Kandyan village;
the fruits of his garden; bananas, gorakas, cocoa pods and pomegranates
are his staple subjects. Even the "empty" canvases in
his studio, become subjects for paintings for him. Their waiting
silence fascinates him and becomes an object of desire. These are things
that defines for him a genre - the still lifes, and the interiors
you will see at this exhibition. Anup Vega's
exhibition is on at the Barefoot gallery till Nov.17. Musical dramas
with laughter and lessons These plays
meant to be family entertainment, infuse a wide array of musical
forms from folk, baila and modern music to low country and free
movement dance forms, a blend that is sure to be a treat for both
young and old. In addition, the animated forest, the enduring dwarfs,
fairies and the charming princess in Himakumariya, the witty and
naughty monkeys and their display of acrobatics, the tricks of the
Hat Seller to get back his stolen hats in the Hat Seller, and the
almighty Gamarala in Gamarala Divya Loketa falling back to earth
are all sure to provide much fun and laughter. Apart from
the entertainment aspect, Somalatha's plays for children are designed
to develop ethics, morals, knowledge and more importantly the personality
of the child. For example, Somalatha has slightly altered the plot
line of the original fairy tale Snow White to instill better values
in the young. The relationship between Snow White and her servants
is depicted in a way to show the importance of humility. The fact that
there is no Prince Charming in the play but it is the family that
rescues Snow White is meant to strengthen the message of the importance
of the family unity. From the Hat Seller, children learn the power
of intelligence to resolve problems as against violence. Gamarala Divya
Loketa stresses the importance of being focused on what one is doing.
The Hat Seller
has been performed in France, The Netherlands, India, Australia
and has been one of the five official entries from Asia at the recently
concluded (in July 2002) Seoul Performing Arts Festival for Young
Audiences, in Seoul, South Korea. Music is by
M.R. Chulasinghe. Assistance in direction is by Chandana Aluthge, who is also the lighting designer and Kaushalya Fernando. Choreography is by Somalatha Subasinghe and Chandana Aluthge. Kala Korner
by Dee Cee 'Salelu Varama'
deals essentially with emotions. It portrays the tragedy of breakdown
in communications and illustrates what the ultimate result could
be when individuals are unable to control themselves. Vasantha succeeds
in conveying these primarily through the two key characters Kamal
Addaraarachchi and Sangeetha Weeraratne who turn out fine performances
conveying the complex nature of the characters. Just a fortnight
ago Sangeetha bagged the dual awards for the Most Popular Actress
and Best Actress for 2001 at the Sarasaviya Film Festival, the latter
for her role in 'Aswesuma'. It is encouraging
to see new faces making their impact. Saumya Liyanage once again
shows the potential to become of another Joe Abeywickrema. Newcomer
Pradeep Senanayake is another to be watched. Music director
Rohana Weerasinghe does not believe in a continuous score throughout
the film. As he usually does in Vasantha's films, he uses music
sparingly, primarily to heighten the emotions. 'Salelu Varama'
joins the rather short list of better quality films screened this
year. Let us hope that it will have a more successful run than some
of the others, which could not retain the basic requirements to
have a longer run in the better theatres. Recognition
Ben, as we
colleagues at Lake House called him during his long service with
the 'Silumina', was, for many years close to some of the leading
filmmakers, especially Lester James Peries. He worked closely with
Lester in selecting suitable material for films. Ben's publication,
'Chitrapata Vicharaya' is one of the pioneering Sinhala works on
cinema. He was also
among the three journalists selected by the Editors Guild of Sri
Lanka this year for the long service award. Now on the sick list,
winning these awards would certainly give him a fresh lease of life. Talking about
the Sarasaviya awards, this is the first time this award was presented
and it has been created in the name of the man who, as manager of
Sarasaviya, worked hard to make the first few festivals a success.
He and Sarasaviya Editor Wimalasiri Perera were the two men responsible
in handling the Sarasaviya festivals. Having lent
a helping hand in organizing a couple of the early festivals and
having observed the commitment that Wimalasiri Perera always displayed,
I feel strongly it's time that the organizers thought of recognizing
his services in some form. Joe does
it again "We have
suffered a lot in our career. Acting is a highly responsible task.
Don't treat it lightly," was Joe's advice to upcoming actors.
While 'Purahanda
Kaluwara' bagged the awards for Best Production, Best Script (Prasanna
Vithanage) and Best Actor, among the awards won by 'Aswesuma' were
those for Best Director (Bennet Ratnayake), Best Actress (Sangeetha
Weeraratne), Best Music Director (Harsha Makalanda), Best Cameraman
(Channa Deshapriya) and Best Art Direction (Sena Mamalage). A point
of debate would be whether the Best Production award could go to
a film other than the one which won the award for best direction
and vice versa. |
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