PRSFG returns to India Art Fair in New Delhi next week

Paradise Road Saskia Fernando Gallery (PRSFG) will be returning to India Art Fair in 2025 scheduled for 6 to 9 February in New Delhi to showcase the best of Sri Lankan Contemporary Art. 

The fair at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi will include works by established and emerging practitioners from the island at booth D02, including H. A. Karunaratne, Sandatharaka Abeysinghe, Kavan Balasuriya, Kingsley Gunatillake, Ruwan Prasanna and Jagath Ravindra.

A highlight of this year’s presentation is works by H. A. Karunartane, widely considered the father of abstract art in Sri Lanka. With a career spanning over six decades, Karunaratne is a distinguished artist and pedagogue renowned for his profound impact on abstract expressionism within the country’s art institutions. The artist exhibits masterful dexterity in exploring the interplay between diverse materials — ranging from fabric to metal — to evoke a sense of rhythm, energy, and dissonance. Karunaratne’s distinctive artistic approach bears resemblance to American Abstract Expressionism and is deeply influenced by Buddhist and Zen philosophies.

Alongside Karunaratne, the presentation will include artworks by abstract practitioners Kingsley Gunatillake, Jagath Ravindra and Ruwan Prasanna. With a career spanning over three decades, Jagath Ravindra is known for capturing fleeting moments through vibrant colours and a heightened sensory experience. His work merges the impressionist pursuit of transience with abstraction, offering a tropical reinterpretation of memory and existence. Kingsley Gunatillake utilises the physicality of his chosen medium to express abstract ideas, drawing inspiration from Chinese and Japanese ink painting traditions. His sculptures and paintings communicate the weight of human emotions while engaging with Sri Lanka’s socio-political history and environmental concerns. Ruwan Prasanna explores the ethereal and intangible through a post-impressionist lens, focusing on nature’s transient phenomena. His works, marked by lyrical colours and rhythmic brushstrokes, emphasise the power of nature, using scale to evoke its beauty and fleeting essence. These artists represent a significant development in abstract art in Sri Lanka, highlighting the evolving exploration of form, colour, and cultural identity within the nation’s contemporary art scene.

The presentation will also showcase works by emerging artists Kavan Balasuriya and Sandatharaka Abeysinghe. Balasuriya’s practice explores light, shadow, surface, and depth through geometric and gestural abstractions. Using aluminium foil, he examines movement and stillness, creating optical illusions by etching and engraving the surface. Balasuriya is representative of the next generation of abstract artists emerging from Sri Lanka’s vibrant contemporary art scene. In contrast, Abeysinghe’s work delves into the relationship between nature and humanity, reflecting on the potential for harmonious coexistence. His hyper realistic paintings, crafted in watercolours and oils, capture the essence of rural life amidst urbanisation.

PRSFG’s participation at the India Art Fair 2025 underscores its commitment to presenting Sri Lankan contemporary art on the global stage. Visitors are invited to experience the diversity and innovation of Sri Lanka’s contemporary artistic landscape at booth D02.

Paradise Road Saskia Fernando Gallery (PRSFG) is the merger of two of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated art institutions — Paradise Road Galleries, established in 1998 by Kalasuri Udayshanth Fernando, and Saskia Fernando Gallery, founded in 2009. This partnership combines the legacy of Paradise Road Galleries, renowned for showcasing modernist masters like Lionel Wendt and George Claessen, with Saskia Fernando Gallery’s pioneering role in representing contemporary Sri Lankan art internationally.

Operating across two locations — 138 Galle Road and Colombo 7 —PRSFG presents a dynamic program that includes leading and emerging practitioners. Both spaces serve as hubs for engaging exhibitions, innovative collaborations, and cultural programming that celebrate Sri Lankan and South Asian artistry.