PRSFG kicks off 2025 with Kingsley Gunatillake’s ‘Māra’ exhibition

Saturday, 1 February 2025 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Kingsley Gunatillake, 2024, Ethereal Shadow, Acrylic on Canvas, 198 x 320 cm

Kingsley Gunatillake, 2025,Shrine of Silence, Copper and Steel 233cm x 384cm x 384cm

Paradise Road Saskia Fernando Gallery (PRSFG) began 2025 with the opening of the first exhibition at 41 Horton Place location with Kingsley Gunatillake’s Māra.

Kingsley Gunatillake has been a significant force within the contemporary abstract movement in Sri Lanka with a practice extending over three decades. Inspired by the expressive linearity of Chinese and Japanese ink paintings Gunatillake’s sculptures and paintings attempt to communicate the untranslatable weight of human emotions and experience. In his sculptural work, the artist exploits the malleable properties of metal to create a rhythmic engagement that tantalises the sense. Gunatillake’s practice is rooted in overarching themes of socio-political and environmental concerns.

Kingsley Gunatillake’s work has been exhibited at Frieze Seoul, Seoul (2024); KALĀ, Lionel Wendt Art Centre, Colombo (2024); Himi Gallery, Tokyo (2023); India Art Fair, New Delhi (2020); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2019); and University College Dublin, Dublin (2006). His work belongs to prestigious collections including the Presidential Collection of Contemporary Art in Sri Lanka. His work was recently commissioned for the Cinnamon Life Permanent Collection, a new initiative by Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate.

In his latest exhibition Māra, artist Kingsley Gunatillake reimagines the figure of Māra, a symbol from Buddhist and Hindu traditions representing internal struggles that hinder spiritual growth. In Kingsley’s reinterpretation, Māra becomes a metaphor for the intricacies of the human psyche, transcending his traditional role as the antagonist seeking to obstruct Gautama Buddha’s path to enlightenment. Through copper sculptures and expressive calligraphy, the artist explores themes of obstacles and transcendence, combining the physicality of his mediums with a rhythmic energy and a lyrical colour palette. Gunatillake’s paintings are characterised by broad, sweeping strokes created with mundane materials, where layers of vibrant yellows, reds, and blues gently emerge from beneath darker, more subdued tones, creating a sense of depth and luminosity. This series reflects Gunatillake’s own interiority where Māra is not an enemy to be defeated but a force to be understood as part of the human experience.

A highlight of Gunatillake’s exhibition is Shrine of Silence, a series of 1001 copper sculptures depicting the form of Māra. The choice of copper, known for its textured quality and divine associations, enhances the physical presence of these figures. Arranged on a tiered pedestal, the miniature sculptures create the illusion of a celestial procession emerging from an unknowable destination, while a larger representation of Māra, fierce and poised in battle, stands alone in a testament to its grandeur. Inspired by Sanjūsangen-dō Temple in Kyoto and the thousand-and-one statues of Kannon, the goddess of compassion in her thousand-armed form, this installation bridges spiritual and historical understanding, inviting viewers to confront the ways in which obstacle and challenge are an integral part of the human condition.

Māra by Kingsley Gunatillake opened on 23 January and will run until 23 February.