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As part of the artistic programme commemorating Geoffrey Bawa’s 100th birthday, Lunuganga reconnected with this energy to host a programme of installations by artists and makers from Sri Lanka and abroad, in a series where the garden is explored as a site of hospitality and a place of encounter. The artists invited for this project were: architect Kengo Kuma, artist Lee Mingwei, and Chandragupta Thenuwara and photographers Dayanita Singh and Dominic Sansoni.
All five have had a long interest in the work of Bawa. The centenary celebration offers the Trust a vehicle to bring to Sri Lanka a programme that positions Bawa’s work and the Trust’s mission within the wider contemporary discourse which spans across multiple regions and disciplines.
- Lununganga Trust
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Image courtesy of Geoffrey Bawa Trust
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The Gift: Beautification II
As part of the five installations at the Lunuganga project, The Gift, leading Sri Lankan artist Chandraguptha Thenuwara was invited to Lunuganga where he expanded on his series Beautification. Beautification is a series that was birthed in 2013 at an exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Gallery in Colombo. The series discussed the changes in cityscapes and industrial development in Sri Lanka post-war. In this installation the artist completed over 100 intricate line drawings that were printed on bricks and installed through out Lunuganga.
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"Beautification means erasing the memories. We should revisit memories, whether we like it or not. I also wanted to revisit the important years in Sri Lanka's history, and put these memories on display. Why are we not questioning the changes taking place in our country?”
- Chandraguptha Thenuwara'Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s practice as an artist is deeply intertwined with the politics of Sri Lanka. Formally trained in painting, Thenuwara works in a range of media and uses intricate details tinged with dry humour to critique the ever-unfolding political landscape of the island. Thenuwara’s work at Lunuganga once more picks up the theme of Beautification, the subject of his solo exhibition in Colombo in 2013, which addressed the then-government’s urban gentrification programme through the guise of ‘Beautification.’ In this new work, Thenuwara engages with the garden through the existing natural and man-made elements and Bawa’s own practice of using systems of grids and axes to ground his work, which then negotiates the extant natural landscape.'
- Geoffrey Bawa Trust
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Beautification II by Chandraguptha Thenuwara is captured part of the natural surroundings at the Lunuganga Estate.
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Preliminary Drawings for The Gift: Beautification II
Beautification, 2021This body of work includes 98 preliminary drawings that were transfered onto bricks,
meticulously pieced together and installed at Lunuganga as The Gift: Beautification II.
Price on request
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Camouflage-Thorns-Lotus, 2016 Pigment ink on canvas
90 x 90 cm (x3)
35 3/8 x 35 3/8 in -
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Reminiscence IV/ Lotuses , 2019Reminiscence IV/ Lotuses , 2019Brass Cast21cm x 18cm x 15cmEdition of 15
LKR 440,000.00LKR 440,000.00 -
Chandraguptha Thenuwara
REMINISCENCE V/ LOTUSES, 2019REMINISCENCE V/ LOTUSES, 2019Brass79cm x 50cm x 37cmEdition of 5
LKR 2,000,000.00LKR 2,000,000.00
Drawings for The Gift: Beautification II and Selected Works: Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Past viewing_room
