In Stick No Bills, Hashan Cooray’s latest body of work, he focuses on a selection of posters stripped from the public walls of Colombo. The sourced images, taken from their original posts, illustrate a critical mixture of politics, consumerism and social critique and eventually make their way to his digital and painted canvases. Here, they move from one type of public display to another, filtered through Hashan’s discerning gaze as they become interwoven with the pigments of his iconic portraiture work.
Artists have a responsibility in spreading their concepts into the public sphere. These ideas, in turn, may be reviewed by a critical audience, as they could be dishonest or inadequate. However, when it comes to public identity, the vast output of culture and politics leaves little choice but for a relentless cacophony of voices to be discharged into everyday life. The posters in question are often layered upon each other over days and weeks, to be slowly – but not wholly – disintegrated over time by the humid climate of Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, these weathered façades provide a rich visual feast for the eyes and mind as fragmented images and words overlap one another, with each element vying for attention in the no man’s land of public space.
