Priyantha Udagedara Sri Lankan , b. 1975
Priyantha Udagedara creates works with aesthetic appeal using collage and painting that from a distance imply a subject and imagery of a paradisiacal nature. When viewed closely the intense and often disturbing nature of his subject transforms through collaged animal and body parts combined with splattered paint. His watercolour hybrid creature series present the same juxtaposition of beauty and agony, depicting monster and human forms with intricate detail and color in a continuation of his distinctive Paradise Lost series that contemplates the current political and social state of post-war Sri Lanka. Presented as mere observations, the flora and fauna are facilitated by the artist to reference the political, sociocultural and postcolonial narrative within his works. It can be said that a leitmotif of Priyantha’s recent artworks is nature in its diversity that finds expression through the arranged flower gardens as well as the exotic tropical wilderness in apparent disarray. These underpinnings are a reminder of the need to re-focus on the environment, as we look beyond the colonial gaze into our present and the future.
Born in Sri Lanka in 1975, Priyantha Udagedara entered the Institute of Aesthetics at the University of Kelaniya in Colombo and earned his Bachelor of Fine Art in 2006. In the same year he left the island in 2006 after receiving a scholarship to continue his education in art through the Masters in Art program at the Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. One of the most renowned artists and art historians in Sri Lanka with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Contemporary Fine Art Practice and a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Contemporary Art and Design Practice from the Faculty of Arts in the Leeds Metropolitan University through the ‘President Scholarship’ awarded by the Presidents Fund, Sri Lanka in the year 2006. While his earlier work too consisted of fantastical, layered colour, this new series of work that he first exhibited in 2010 at Paradise Road Galleries, began to show clear signs of a deeper evolution that had begun to take place in Udagedara’s practice. Before returning to Sri Lanka in 2014 he presented solo exhibitions of his PhD practice exhibition at the Norman Rea Gallery in York and Broadcasting Place Gallery in Leeds.
Since the year 2015, he has been serving as a lecturer in University of Visual and Performing Arts, at the Department of Art History and Theory University of Visual and Performing Arts Colombo and he has been serving as a visiting lecturer at the American National College Colombo.
In 2016 Priyantha Udagedara presented his first solo international exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery in London followed by group exhibition participation at Aicon Gallery New York in 2017 and Baik Art Los Angeles in 2019. His work has been presented at Art Dubai, India Art Fair, Leeds Art Fair and the LA Art Show.
Priyantha’s principal research interests lie in the field of contemporary fine art practice focusing upon South Asia. His PhD research explores the contextual analysis of the “Notion of Paradise” in its relationship to socio-political ideology within the limitations of visual art. His future research plans will build on the foundations of his PhD to further develop research in visual art practice within Sri Lanka and the region. He has particular expertise and research interest in colonial-art, post colonial art and contemporary Western and Eastern visual culture. He is a practicing artist specializing in paintings and has exhibited nationally and internationally in countries including Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Portugal, Dubai and Great Britain.
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COLLECTOR PROFILE | PATRICK DALTON
April 15, 2021 -
COLLECTOR PROFILE | SRIMOYI BHATTACHARYA
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Sri Lanka: Shanth Fernando’s home is possibly the finest art gallery you’ll ever see
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Art Dubai 2016: All Roads Connect
Harpers Bazaar Arabia, March 13, 2016
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Serendib
Priyantha Udagedara 9 Oct - 6 Nov 2020An abundance of flora and fauna. A tropical ensemble of a myriad different colours and diverse forms and textures. Creatures of flight in their wingspread splendor; some perched momentarily. Beneath...Read more -
Crossing Place, Baik Art Los Angeles
Jagath Weerasinghe, Pakkiyarajah Pushpakanthan, Saskia Pinetelon, Priyantha Udagedara, Chandraguptha Thenuwera 20 Apr - 1 Jun 2019When contemporary art from South East Asia enjoys increasing global attention, Baik Art is pleased to present Crossing Place, a unique exploration of contemporary art from Sri Lanka. The exhibition,...Read more -
Orientalism
Priyantha Udagedara 8 Dec 2017 - 6 Jan 2018Priyantha Udagedara’s exhibition “Orientalism” involves the viewer in a type of performative exchange “to unearth -and concurrently interpret- what is beneath the deception of the exoticism in brazen display.”(1) To...Read more -
Herbal Garden
Priyantha Udagedara 17 Dec 2015 - 13 Jan 2016Herbs are an essential feature of people’s lives in romance, religion, health and superstition. Grown in gardens for millenniums, herbs were often used for medical and erotic purposes in massage....Read more -
Priyantha Udagedara
Priyantha Udagedara 13 Nov - 13 Dec 2014Sri Lanka has long been represented as a paradise on earth. The notion of the island as paradisiacal dates back at least to Horace Walpole’s 1754 letter coining the term...Read more
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10 Contemporary South Asian Artists You Must Know About and Support
One Green Planet March 11, 2021This article focuses on 10 South Asian artists everyone should learn about! South Asia is an incredibly diverse region that is full of complex cultural...Read more -
Five @ Baik Art Los Angeles
June 2019 - August 2019 June 30, 2019In the spirit of remembrance, the gallery has invited all of the artists previously involved with our programs to exhibit collectively at our Culver City...Read more -
Priyantha Udagedara | Bunka Award
March 2019 March 25, 2019After a careful screening and examination by the selection committee comprising of renowned personalities in the areas of culture, art and education, the winners of...Read more -
Re-Approaching the Orient
Sandev Handy December 7, 2017Orientalism by Priyantha Udagedara, is a body of work that traverses between beauty and ugliness while simultaneously questioning the formation of the lenses that construct...Read more
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The future was: Wallpaper* explores Art Dubai 2016
Wallpaper* Magazine March 31, 2016Three decades ago, when Leila Heller opened her New York gallery with a young Iranian American artist, she asked him to change his name fearing...Read more -
Silent Auction in Aid of the Ceylon School for the Deaf & the Blind
November 6, 2015We are pleased to announce this year’s Silent Auction, a fundraiser event for The Ceylon School for the Deaf & Blind, that will take place...Read more