Just black and white? Is that even art?

• BLACKLIT GALLERIA: Colombo’s Artistic Secret by Ilham Sanoon

They say there is an artist in each and every one of us. In fact there are all kinds of hidden personalities filled with a plethora of skills and talent in us but only a few would do an ‘Ilham Sanoon’ on it to unravel and unleash it. 

Running an Information Technology enterprise for past 25 years across the entire island, bringing the very best of the tech brands to Sri Lanka was at one time his entire focus. “It was my focus but never my passion,” Ilham goes on to say while giving us a tour of his gallery. BLACKLIT GALLERIA as the name would suggest only has black or white paintings. Ask him why and he will answer: “Because to me life is either black or white. No confusion. No deviation.”

Interestingly it is a period of unexpected catastrophes in his IT legacy that lead him to take up his art passion more seriously. Not as a means of income but as a way of therapy. It was his distraction from the enormous stress of the digital world. “I started sketching on paper and the rest is history,” he says.

Having started as a passion Ilham has now developed his creations mostly into a fully-fledged gallery where his art is on display. His style of painting is unique because he starts without any idea on what he is about to create. “I start with a basic pattern and see where my inner-artist takes it,” he’d say. Close to 50% of the art is built based on intuition and then the balance he completes with a clear vision. This is what excites Ilham. 

The art of black and white paintings is not the most popular or trendy style and he attracts both the wrath and praise of art critics. Ilham laughs humbly and recalls: “Some people question how dare he calls himself an artist and the others ask simply exclaim where was this artist hiding?”

Ilham sees himself as a ‘Student for Life’ of this art and constantly visits art exhibitions and other events to learn from the best. Locally and internationally his iconic mentor whom he refers as the godfather in his career into the world of art was none other than the late Laksiri Fonseka (MD of Platé) who paved his journey during his start-up years.

He has also attracted his own base of fans ranging from kids in schools to adults who are fans of this style. He does not think twice before helping such followers by imparting his knowledge and proudly showcases pieces sent by some of his junior fans.   

 

 The Future: El Mundo

One thing for sure about the BLACKLIT GALLERIA odyssey is that Ilham has set his eyes on powering his passion and moving into it fulltime very soon. When asked about his future goal his face lights up with excitement as he with a flair of confidence, silently expresses, El Mundo – The World.

Ilham will soon be having his very first international exhibition followed by a few others. Location scouting is already on the way and he is finalising the order of the international cities he will showcase at.

“This art is not for everyone. I am looking at the cities that will have a higher concentration of the people who would appreciate and adore this art, to whom I can take this message and with whom I can build a long lasting relationship.”

As Ilham perceives it, black and white is about being simple and sure. He is simply sure on where he has set his eyes on for his BLACKLIT GALLERIA. “In Sri Lanka, there is a certain social stigma associated with the word artist, that a self-taught, self-discovered passionate person like me cannot be an artist. I am here to challenge that. Hopefully I will inspire more people to do so.”