The Denary Odyssey Group has pooled its resources together and will come out as a strong team comprising ten artists when it showcases 40 pieces of art and sculpture at the Lionel Wendt on June 29 and 30. The exhibits will be open for public viewing each day from 9 am to 8 pm. 

The art exhibition is titled ‘Denary Odyssey’ and promises to be an evocative visual art exhibition. There will be eight artists and two sculptors exhibiting their works. The artists will use their creations to tell their own life stories and also to express their views on life and times as humans on planet earth. The exhibition will commence with an opening ceremony on June 28 (Friday).

According to Gayan Hemarathne, the organizer and programme manager of ‘Denary Odyssey’, the two-day exhibition is slated to give their art work much value and also bring recognition to the artists and the sculptors as well. 

Hemarathne is a engineer by profession and took to art in a search to find a new path in what else he wishes to do in life. He started reading the Mahawamsa and a whole undisclosed world opened up to him; solely from an art perspective. “After reading this book and the life and times of King Dutugemunu I was inspired to research on art and culture of that period. Now I’m following an MSC and studying archeology as a subject,” said Hemarathne who hails from Anuradhapura. “I am an engineer during the morning hours and the artist in me takes over in the night. There are times when mathematical sequences and geometric equations come into play in my art,” said Hemarathne.

The ten ‘artists’ who’ll present their works apart from Hemarathne are Rasika de Silva, Kavishwara Jayasekara, Shanaka Kulathunga, Bani Manohansa, Namal Kumara, Madusanka Dimal, Mandira Ranathunga, Anupa Perera and Chandana Gunathilake.

Mandira Ranathunga is the sole female artist at the show and is also the curator of the event.  She is an assistant lecturer at the University of Visual and Performance Art. She says she isn’t a full time artist and has to engage in art when not teaching at the university. But the time available for art has been sufficient to produce some quality pieces of work. She is a staunch advocate of the rule ‘not to judge a person by the shape of his/her body’.
“I think every person has a uniqueness regardless of what shape you are in. There is a beauty in everyone and art presents us with an opportunity to showcase those features. I say this with confidence because I too am a little on the plump side, but nothing holds me back” she said. Ranathunga is pretty excited about being the curator of the exhibition.

“As the curator of the exhibition I have to engage the viewers and also manage the gallery wall. I received a training on this aspect of art at the University. This time at the exhibition, each artist gets to showcase four pieces of art,” she said. Ranathunga.

Among these creative people there are two who’ll stand out for being the only two sculptors exhibiting their works. They are Madusanka Dimal and schoolteacher Chandana Gunathilake. The latter had just returned from school when the Daily Mirror called him and asked him for his views on the upcoming exhibition. Gunathilake has mastered the art of working without complaining about fatigue. He teaches five days a week at Kuda Uduwa Nalanda University College Horana as an art teacher. 

“My style of art is wood assemble and there is iron work as well. I engage in sculpturing in a manner in which I try to preserve the original shape of the object when working with material. There is a huge demand for such creations,” he said.

Gunathilake is a state award winner in sculpturing and received an opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the Benal International Show in China, in 2010. “The material I use and my ideas as a sculpture have changed immensely over the years. I have changed by sculpturing, so that people will love my work and buy them. There is no point in me doing sculpturing only to satisfy my desires as a sculpture” he said.

He enjoys teaching as much as he loves sculpturing. He said that this is the era of the smartphone and students are constantly updating their knowledge in art. “I tell the new generation of sculptors and artists not to copy the work of old hands in the field. I tell them to be innovative and think new,” he said. 

According to Gunathilake it’s a challenge to manage art and teaching full time at a school. There are foreigners who view his sculptures and inquire into his creations and about life and times. And most of them are overcome by awe when they are told that despite his busy schedule as a schoolteacher Gunathilake finds time to engage in serious sculpture. “I think that accommodating a teaching career in my life as a sculptor is an added qualification” he said. 

Talking about the upcoming exhibition he said, “It’s an event that will pool the ideas of ten individuals. It’s a big team coming together as one” said Gunathilake. 

Each person, each artwork will portray a personal adventure and the artists and the two sculptors will be there in person to take you on a guided tour at the Harold Peiris Gallery explaining or sharing intricate details about their work that’ll enrich your experience in being a visitor at the event.