Shalini Ganendra Fine Art

Certainly there are many fine Sri Lankan artists that are known to the larger community, but there are those individuals and organizations that help publicize and support Sri Lankan artists behind the scenes that are less well known. A prime model is the Shalini Ganendra Fine Art Gallery (SGFA). Established in Malaysia in 1998, the Gallery aims to present and promote contemporary art from emerging regions to both local and international audiences.

Since its inception, the Gallery has been a vital force in presenting great and skillful Sri Lankan talents to South East Asia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Modern Masters such as George Keyt and Ivan Peries and contemporary artists Leela Bandaranaike Peries, Shehan Madawela, and Druvinka have each had their introduction through the Gallery. As an establishment that works to promote Sri Lankan artists, Shalini Ganendra Fine Art seeks to continue presenting creative art and ideas, and is always on the lookout for new, distinguished talents.

Shalini Ganendra, director of SGFA, has long found herself surrounded by the arts. While not an artist herself, she has been surrounded by artists within her own family. Her grand uncle, Justin Deraniyagala Pieris, was a member of the ’43 Group – a band of artists who sought to break away from the rigidity and austere form of traditional Victorian art. Ganendra’s grandfather, Ashmore Pieris, was also an artist, and much of her immediate and extended family collect art on a small scale. Before the formation of the Shalini Ganendra Fine Art Gallery, Ganendra had practiced law with a Wall Street firm in New York and London for a number of years. After moving to Malaysia, a combination of factors led her to establish SGFA (initially known as The Private Gallery). The Gallery was brought into existence with Ganendra’s idea of “living with art” – a concept, according to Ganendra, which emphasizes the enjoyment of art as part of one’s lifestyle and not solely for its investment value.

The SGFA Gallery exhibits the works of mid-level and established artists who display strong technique, presentation, ideas, work ethic, and professionalism. In her own words, Ganendra explains that the SGFA Gallery “focuses on art that can be lived with and that is created by artists who aim to produce museum quality work in all mediums.” Ganendra believes that good aesthetic talent, an inquisitive mind, and strong discipline are key traits that allow for creation of artistic work more likely to make an imprint in developing art history. The Gallery displays paintings, works on paper, sculpture, photography, art textile, and art ceramics.

As the SGFA Gallery grew, so too did its audience, and the need arose to establish a Western consultancy office. The consultancy practice is a vital part of the Gallery’s functioning, and works to advise clients on a selection of works, managing collections, sourcing and selling works, liaising with auction houses, and much more.

In 2005, the Gallery organized the first presentation of Sri Lankan contemporary art, Colours of Karma, at the Nehru Centre in London. Subsequently, in 2006, 2007, and 2008, the Gallery exhibited a joint presentation of Sri Lankan and Malaysian contemporary art during New York’s Asia Week.

Modern Sri Lankan artist George Keyt and Ivan Peries were each distinguished painters in their own right. As part of the early modernist art movement in Sri Lanka, Keyt and Peries produced works unlike other painters of their time. Both displayed a strong ability to render the ordinary subject in ways that had hitherto been unknown. Leela Bandaranaike Peries is an inspired Sri Lankan sculptor whose solid bronze works continue to be displayed internationally. There is a great amount of appreciation for the quality of her work, the individuality of each bronze piece, and the fact that she is behind each piece of art from start to finish. She has worked exclusively with the SGFA Gallery to present her work to international audiences for many years.

The Gallery has also represented Stanley Kirinde, a self-taught artist whose works have been featured and collected internationally. Kirinde was appreciative of the Gallery’s efforts to represent his artwork, which the Gallery continues to carry today. His elegant works caught the eyes of numerous international collectors. Ganendra comments, “It was a pleasure to work with him.”

Self-taught contemporary painter Shehan Madawela, whom Sri Lanka Foundation recently featured in its magazine, is another one of SGFA’s long-standing artists. Madawela’s art often reverberates with Sri Lankan historical and mythological themes as well as conveying the lesser told stories of modern excesses. Likewise, contemporary artist painter and printmaker Druvinka is heralded for strong technique and subliminal investigations. In line with the roots of her training at Santhiniketan, she blends symbols, lines, and colors in elegant collage based works. These artists are just a few of the talents supported by the SGFA Gallery.

Though Sri Lankan contemporary artists as a group still have a distance to go before they are recognized for their work collectively or as artists of a common ethnic background, the distinction of styles and thought are reassuring to the processes of individual creativity – which is a focus of contemporary art movements. However, few if at all any could be said to represent Sri Lankan contemporary artists as a whole. According to Ganendra, the more established artists have developed what may be considered signature styles, yet even these styles are subject to change as artists continue to explore different themes, ideas, and techniques. Undoubtedly, common grief is a subject that is well-represented in Sri Lankan contemporary art – topics that touch on ethnic strife, rural poverty, and even the recent tsunami disaster. However, there are endless issues that are brought to the fore in the art world.

The Modernist Group of ’43 still remains the most recognized art movement in Sri Lanka. Some artists from this group have works of theirs that are part of major museum collections. Being a part of such public collections is important for many reasons, but notably for the fact that these great Sri Lankan artists and their works are being exposed to wider audiences, enlightened art criticism, and global curatorship. It is necessary and vital to consider the valuable time and great effort on the part of many promoters, authors, collectors, patrons, and artists to bring themselves to such a level.

While there are indeed many Sri Lankan artists around the world, there is an underrepresentation of those numbers in international art competitions. Recently, Ganendra served as Chief Judge at the Commonwealth Arts & Crafts Awards – a prestigious biennial competition organized by The Commonwealth Foundation. She was disappointed by the lack of participation by Sri Lankan talent. Globally, there are numerous programs that invite and support the exhibition of a variety of art forms, and it is certainly the hope of art supporters like the SGFA Gallery that more Sri Lankan artists step up to the challenge of presenting their works in different environments, both cultural and academic, to ensure that art, especially in the Sri Lankan scene, continues to develop. The Gallery intends to establish an art residency program in the near future which would see winners of art competitions from Sri Lanka spending months in Malaysia to expand their artistic experience and reach.