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JagathWeerasinghe is one of the pioneers of the 90s Art Trend in Sri Lanka, and is currently a frontrunner in the contemporary art scene in the country. Having acquired a BFA in Painting from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka and an MFA from the American University in Washington D.C., USA,Weerasinghe pursues his passion for visual art while also working in education contexts, most recently as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya. Weerasinghe co-founded the Theertha International Artists Collective in 2000 as a platform designed to foster dialogue among the local artist community in Sri Lanka beyond boundaries of ethnicity, region and artistic style. He was the Chairman of the Collective until 2017. He has presented his work in a number of solo and group exhibitions locally, and internationally in Dubai, United Kingdom, India, Germany, Netherlands, USA and Singapore. He is also an exceptional artist who has contributed to the art industry in Sri Lanka with several academic publications that shed light on the manner in which contemporary artists have evolved and developed their craft over the years. He is currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Weerasinghe mostly uses Acrylic on canvas or paper as his medium of expression, but has experimented with murals and monuments as well.
His works are best described as abstract depictions of contemporary socio-political issues that have an especially personal bearing on his creative thought process. Weerasinghe is credited with the coining of the term “the 90s Art Trend”, and he has mainly contributed to the movement through artistic deliberations about the thirty year Civil War in Sri Lanka. His early works manifest a unique personal reaction to animosity, as a Sinhala Buddhist in crisis with his identity surrounded by repressive political regimes that continuously imposed questionable solutions to end the war. In July 1983,Weerasinghe was personally affected by the ethnic crisis when he witnessed the mass scale violence perpetrated against the Tamil community of the country, leading to the thirty-year civil war. He was also abducted in the 1970s, which has had a considerable influence on his political consciousness as conveyed in his creative work. In 1999, he completed a monument commissioned by the government of Sri Lanka, titled “Shrine for the Innocent”, in order to capture the violence innocent victims from the southern part of the country underwent during the period between 1988 and 1991. The monument was designed as a act of remembrance, as Weerasinghe states, to memorialize “one bloody incident [which] took more attention than the other smaller ones: the abduction and murder of 33 school children at Embilipitiya, a village in the south of Sri Lanka.” In the years following the war the monument was subjected to a “disappearance”, which Weerasinghe understands to signify the political changes that took place following a series of brutalities: “I mean in a conceptual way is actually a [RE] APPEARANCE of a monument which is much more relevant, and symptomatic of the civil and political society of Colombo, Sri Lanka or of Sri Lanka in general.” His approach to art is therefore one that is socially critical and engaged, establishing the fact that art should evolve with time and that artists should be engaged in their own socio-political consciousness and senses of criticality.
His painting “Broken Stupa” (1992), exhibited at the traveling exhibition “Artful Resistance: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka” depicts a severely damaged Buddhist stupa manifesting the religious and nationalistic consequences of the ethnic crisis. Ivory is used to signify the importance attributed to the stupa in Buddhism, and the colours of black and grey around the stupa highlight the manner in which citizens practiced extremism going against the actual peacefulness preached by their religions. His 2014 exhibition “Decorated” held at Saskia Fernando Gallery and Breese Little dealt with the themes of urban beautification and allegations of human rights violations Sri Lanka was encountering soon after the war. He looks at the country’s political situation with a “double-sided take”, questioning the decisions of the government with unconventional pieces of art that defy universal standards of beauty: “I love the development that has taken place; I am enjoying it in my city. Then on the other hand I question, is there a depth to this? Can we refuse it? If there is a depth it is perhaps our inability to make sense of our own position in this transition period the country is experiencing.”
Weerasinghe continues to grapple with the socio-political remnants of the war, but has now embarked on delineating further current issues in Sri Lanka that resonate with him. His recent solo exhibition, “Belief: The Promise of Absence” (2018) consisted of ruminations on canvas about the local and global crisis of mass migration, and the social calamities and intimate pains that arise as a consequence. The paintings are mostly abstract in nature, with human figures blended into them with the aim of depicting how humanity is undergoing a “major civilizational crisis” as “millions of people are forced to leave behind their ‘lives’ and ‘memories’” when they migrate to other countries. Weerasinghe captures the nostalgia, emotionality, confusion, inner turmoil and identity crisis that follow migration as he fuses darkened, disfigured body parts on the canvas alongside bright reds, purples, blues and yellows to highlight the atmosphere of unrest and perturbation. Weerasinghe’s portfolio of work and outstanding contribution to the art industry of Sri Lanka are a source of inspiration for many young artists who have begun to approach art as experimentation coupled with critical thinking in terms of a developed socio-political consciousness.
| Name of Exhibition | Year | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | 1992 | National Gallery of Art, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| New Approaches in Contemporary Sri Lankan Art | 1994 | National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Fourth Asian Art Show | 1994 | Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan |
| Lionel Wendt Gallery Exhibition | 1995 | Lionel Wendt Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Die Welt zuGast | 1996 | Spiel Bank, Dortmund, Germany |
| Dialogue with Christa Webber | 1997 | Gallery Mount Castle, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Yantragala and the Round Pilgrimage | 1997 | Heritage Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Recent Paintings | 1997 | Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Asia-Pacific Triennial | 1999 | Queensland Gallery, Queensland, Australia |
| (My) Inability of Painting Woman | 2000 | Gallery 706, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Arts South Asia Show | 2002 | Liverpool University Gallery, Liverpool, UK |
| Paradise Road Galleries Exihibition | 2003 | Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| AhamPuram | 2004 | Jaffna Library, Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
| Urban and the Individual | 2004 | Finomenal Space Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Ten Artists from Sri Lanka | 2005 | Milles Garden, Stockholm, Sweden |
| The Celestial Underwear | 2005 | Phenomenal Space Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| The Reading Room: Thousand Shivas and Thousand Mikes | 2006 | Singapore Biennale |
| Theertha Red Dot Gallery Exihibition | 2007 | curated by Fumio Nanjo, Sharmini Pereira, Eugene Tan and Roger McDonald, Singapore |
| Sri Lankan Contemporaries | 2007 | Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Sri Jayawardenepura, Sri Lanka |
| Designing Peace | 2009 | The Noble Sage Collection, London, UK |
| Artful Resistance: Crisis and Creativity in Sri Lanka | 2009 | Marian PasatRoces, MCDA, Manila, Philippines |
| Shiva Nataraja | 2009 | Museum fürVölkerkunde, Austria |
| Visual Responses During the War: Selected Artists’ Works | 2010 | Lionel Wendt Gallery & Harold Peiris Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Contemporary Art From Sri Lanka 2011 | 2011 | Asia House, London, UK |
| Colombo Art Biennale | 2012 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Art of Resistance | 2012 | Espace Gallery, New Delhi, India |
| “Mediated (Data Art)” | 2012 | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Drawings | 2012 | Breese Little, London, UK |
| Decorated | 2014 | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Decorated | 2014 | Breese Little, London, United Kingdom |
| Colombo Art Biennale | 2014 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Reading Room | 2014 | Tarq Art Gallery, Mumbai, India |
| All Together Now! | 2014 | Breese Little, London, UK |
| Cinnamon Colomboscope: Shadowscenes | 2015 | Rio Hotel and Cinema, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Rewriting the Last Love Letter and Other Works | 2015 | Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| With or Without Me/aning | 2016 | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| India Art Fair | 2016 | New Delhi, India |
| Portraits of Resistance | 2016 | India International Centre, New Delhi, India |
| Name of Book | Year of Publication | Author | Printer |
|---|---|---|---|
Other Publicaitons the Artist has been mentioned in |
|||
Documentaries |
|||
| Name of Documentary | Year of Production | ||
| 1000 Shivas, Hand Painted Limited Edition Book | 2006 | ||
| The One Year Drawing Project: May 2005-October 2007 | 2008 | ||
| Chapter titled “An Overview of Modernisms in Sri Lankan Art of the Twentieth Century” in Artful Resistance: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka edited by Sylvia S. Kasprycki and Doris I. Stambrau | 2010 | ||
Ref :JW 120
Title :Divine
Signed :-
Year :-
Measurements in Cms :96.5 x 66
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :96.5 x 66
Ref :JW 133
Title :Self Portrait with Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Right
Year :-
Measurements in Cms :30 x 28
Material Used :Wood Cut
Dimensions in Cms. :30 x 28
Ref :JW 125
Title :Self Portrait with Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1987
Measurements in Cms :29.5 x 28
Material Used :Wood Cut
Dimensions in Cms. :29.5 x 28
Ref :JW 101
Title :Untitled
Signed :Top Left
Year :1988
Measurements in Cms :50.5 x 40.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :50.5 x 40.5
Ref :JW 5
Title :Traffic Lights
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :74 x 57.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :74 x 57.5
Ref :JW 14
Title :Self-Portrait
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :30 x 28.5
Material Used :Wood Block
Dimensions in Cms. :30 x 28.5
Ref :JW 21
Title :Moon over Dambulla
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :22 x 13.5
Material Used :Wood Block/Reduction Print
Dimensions in Cms. :22 x 13.5
Ref :JW 41
Title :Untitled
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :45 x 60
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :45 x 60
Ref :JW 126
Title :Self Portrait with Dambulla
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :29.5 x 28
Material Used :Wood Cut
Dimensions in Cms. :29.5 x 28
Ref :JW 127
Title :House
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1989
Measurements in Cms :29.5 x 23
Material Used :Wood Cut
Dimensions in Cms. :29.5 x 23
Ref :JW 1
Title :Broken Stupa
Signed :Lower Left
Year :1992
Measurements in Cms :49.5 x 62
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :49.5 x 62
Ref :JW 2
Title :Broken Stupa
Signed :Lower Left
Year :1992
Measurements in Cms :49.5 x 62
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :49.5 x 62
Ref :JW 104
Title :Untitled
Signed :Lower Right
Year :1997
Measurements in Cms :31 x 42
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :31 x 42
Ref :JW 109
Title :Campaign
Signed :Upper Right
Year :1997
Measurements in Cms :76 x 91
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :76 x 91
Ref :JW 308
Title :Untitled
Signed :Middle Left
Year :2002
Measurements in Cms :91.5 x 64.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :91.5 x 64.5
Ref :JW 4
Title :Untitled
Signed :Lower Left
Year :2004
Measurements in Cms :56 x 46.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :56 x 46.5
Ref :JW 180
Title :Head of Buddha
Signed :Upper Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :28 .25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28 .25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 181
Title :Head of Buddha
Signed :Lower Left
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :28 .25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28 .25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 190
Title :Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :28 .25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28 .25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 192
Title :Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Middle
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :28 .25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28 .25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 193
Title :Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :28 .25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28 .25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 226
Title :Dancing Shiva
Signed :Lower Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :32 x 29
Material Used :Acrylic on Paper
Dimensions in Cms. :32 x 29
Ref :JW 272
Title :Self-Portrait
Signed :Middle Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :63.5 x 50.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :63.5 x 50.5
Ref :JW 314
Title :Untitled
Signed :Middle Right
Year :2005
Measurements in Cms :121.5 x 112
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :121.5 x 112
Ref :JW 191
Title :Dambulla Rock
Signed :Lower Right
Year :2006
Measurements in Cms :28.25 x 23.5
Material Used :Acrylic on Card
Dimensions in Cms. :28.25 x 23.5
Ref :JW 307
Title :Untitled
Signed :Upper Middle Left
Year :2006
Measurements in Cms :92 x 76.5
Material Used :Acrylic & Cloth on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :92 x 76.5
Ref :JW 316
Title :The Ominous Figure
Signed :Lower Middle
Year :2007
Measurements in Cms :132 x 142
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :132 x 142
Ref :JW 317
Title :The Celestial Violence
Signed :Upper Left
Year :2007
Measurements in Cms :173 x 142
Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions in Cms. :173 x 142
| Year | Institute | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka | Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honors in Painting (Second Class Upper Pass) Minor: Sculpture |
| 1985 | International Center for the Scientific Study and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) | Conservation of Wall Paintings |
| 1988 | Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, USA | Conservation of Rock Art |
| 1991 | American University, Washington D.C., USA | Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting |