‘Past, Present and Future’ a group art exhibition being held now at ‘Gallery Four Life’ showcases creations of five veteran Sri Lankan artists.
The exhibition commenced on February 19 has a rare collection of paintings in various genres along with sculptures. The exhibition will remain open till March 5 each day from 9am to 5pm.
Artists who exhibit their creations at the exhibition are Sarath Gunasiri Perera, Chaminda Gamage, K D Lakshman, Suneth Aravinda and Nelun Harasgama.
Chathuranga Biyagama the young owner and managing director of Gallery Four Life is an artist himself and also a marketer and an attorney who has enormous exposure globally on the subject of art.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News TnC Chathuranga disclosed the objectives of investing on this art gallery, art pavilion and live art studio.
Q: What were your objectives of commissioning Gallery Four Life?
A: We work on a project to create an art culture in Sri Lanka. Thus via this gallery our main theme is ‘developing Sri Lankan art’.
To make it a success we create various avenues, opportunities and paths for artists to work, to earn and to promote themselves.
A common thinking prevailing in Sri Lankan society is that one cannot make a good living through art. We are poised to correct that wrong thinking by showcasing works of talented artists to a macro platform and providing them with lucrative avenues.
We promote them to the upmarket, to VIP crowd and to the international community via the gallery and various platforms including social media.
Q: What was the criteria of shortlisting artists for this particular exhibition?
A: An art exhibition is one special feature among other projects in our monthly calendar.
For this particular exhibition we have selected few senior artists who are exceptionally talented but do not exhibit their works on a regular basis.
Art scene was hampered during the Covid 19 pandemic period thus artists were deprived of the opportunity to take their creations to people. We thus created a platform for them to not only exhibit their works but also to stimulate and create a market for these creations.
This time around we thought of showcasing works of some senior artists who are strong in their work but quite silent on commercial aspects. Artist Chaminda Gamage introduced me to his senior Sarath Gunasiri Perera and we worked on this project.
Q: What are your other means of offering support to artists?
We have created an e-commerce platform to promote Sri Lankan arts and crafts to the international markets. Gallery Four Life has the highest social media reach in the country as an art gallery.
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| Chathuranga Biyagama |
We have created a platform for Sri Lankan artists to make a living through art thus artists are a part of our gallery. This place is open for any artist who likes to come here and practice. People working here are passed out students of visual art university and youngsters from rural areas who want to develop themselves through art.
Courses and workshops are conducted here in weekends by passed students and final year students of the visual art university. Thus we have created an opportunity for resource persons to make some earning.
We do interior projects, architect projects that are handled by students of visual art university.
Hence instead of going back to their hometowns with a university degree and a teaching appointment these youngsters are exposed to the world and lucrative income avenues opened for them.
Q: How do they overcome language barrier and other hindrances on their quest to become known artists?
Amateur artists and senior artistes work here hand-in-hand. Limitations prevail. We offer them exposure by getting them to cater to an upmarket clientele. In the process they grasp finer-points in communication and marketing wisdom to interact with potential buyers.
We work with all major embassies in Colombo and involve these youngsters in those operations. Thus while getting hands on experiences and by interacting with their seniors they learn etiquettes in the profession.
