ABOUT Akeem Kalugalla


Artistic language and positions

Despite having been a student of Prof. Joseph Beuys (Europe's most influential innovator of performance art and conceptualism) Akeem Kalugalla's artistic language is closely related to early 20th century German expressionism and French fauvism as well as to the post-expressionist and post-modern art movements of the 1980s and later. Some also find a bit of a pop art strain in it.

The following artists Akeem considers most inspirational: Otto Mueller, Max Beckmann, David Salle, Eric Fishl, Martin Kippenberger, John Currin, Robert Williams, Richard Lindner.

Artistic subjects

Akeem is most interested in the quest of modern urban women for individual identity beyond the boundaries of convention and tradition. He incorporates the symbols and poses that women experiment with to express the attitudes and lifestyles that they try out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wood Sculptures - contemporary art carvings from teak and other wood from Sri Lanka

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Besides his work in stone A. Kalugalla also carves sculptures in different kinds of wood. The sculptor prefers to work with the hard and extremely durable teak as well as with soft and light types of wood, for example Mahogany, some of which are commonly used for traditional masks, too. But you'll also find statues made from the favorite wood of Sri Lanka, the local Jak, a very hard but brittle wood that has been and still is used for windows, doors and furniture since the old days.

The artist paints many of his wooden sculptures.

Stone sculptures - carved from Sri Lanka's granite

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Although locally it's called "black granite" the stone mainly used for sculptures by the contemporary Sri Lankan artist A. Kalugalla is a local "gabbro" variety, a hard black stone closely related to a well known stone from India, which is sold under the name of "Black Galaxy". The sculptor frequently visits the quarries in his part of Sri Lanka (Southern province, Galle area) to select the rocks for his sculptures personally.

Kalugalla also likes to work with different local gneis varieties (a dark grey stone with a greenish touch) and some light colored stones containing balls of garnet, both of which will be mistaken for granite my laymen.

All these stones are very durable and hard and thus extremely difficult to work with.

 

Wood Sculptures - contemporary art carvings from teak and other wood from Sri Lanka

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Besides his work in stone A. Kalugalla also carves sculptures in different kinds of wood. The sculptor prefers to work with the hard and extremely durable teak as well as with soft and light types of wood, some of which are commonly used for traditional masks, too. But you'll also find statues made from the favorite wood of Sri Lanka, the local Jak, a very hard but brittle wood that has been and still is used for windows, doors and furniture since the old days.

The artist paints many of his wooden sculptures.

 

Sculpture - an art with tradition in Sri Lanka

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Despite a great tradition of sculptors who's ancient works are admired by Sri Lankans as well as foreign tourists, one doesn't find much contemporary sculpture in Sri Lanka. Modern artists in the country don't seem to like working in stone that much. Most contemporary Sri Lankan artists concentrate on painting.

A. Kalugalla feels connected to the great artist that carved stone sculpture in ancient times. He revives the art of stone sculpting.

 

Contemporary art in Sri Lanka - showing influences from well known modern sculptors

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In Kalugalla's sculptures art lovers have seen influences from artists as different as Henry Moore, Jean/Hans Arp, Georg Baselitz, Henri Laurens, Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner, Archipenko, Belling, Claes Oldenburg, Alberto Giacometti, Henry Matisse, Stephan Balkenhol, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Pablo Picasso and many more.

These sculptures have little to do with the folklore clichee that many foreigners expect to be a predominant feature in Sri Lankan art of today.

 

Contemporary sculpture in Sri Lanka

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A. Kalugalla works as a contemporary sculptor in Sri Lanka. His sculptures are mainly carved in Sri Lankan black granite, local marble and local hard woods. The modern artist lives near Galle and creates mostly figurative works showing an influence of neo expressionists concepts.

Moderne Kunst in Sri Lanka

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Auf der Weltkarte der zeitgenössischen Kunst ist Sri Lanka sehr groß eingezeichnet. Und doch gibt es Künstler in Sri Lanka, die moderne Malerei und zeitgenössische Plastik ohne folkloristisches Beiwerk auf internationalem Niveau produzieren. A. Kalugalla ist einer der wenigen Künstler in Sri Lanka, die in erster Linie als Bildhauer arbeiten. Seine plastischen Arbeiten belegen, dass auch ein nicht international bekannter Künstler aus einem exotischen Land wie Sri Lanka durchaus ein eigenständiges künstlerisches Werk hervorbringen kann.

Sculpting is not very popular among contemporary artists - in Sri Lanka as well as world wide

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The creation and production of a sculpture is a physically hard work that takes very long to complete. Material and the process of making are either very expensive (bronce), and/or very heavy (stone), and/or very difficult to work with (casting, foundry, granite carving). Only sculptures from wood seem a bit more "easy" - but only as long as you don't try! Thus most of Sri Lanka's talented artists - as their fellow artists all over the world - don't put their artistic focus on creating contemporary sculptures.

 

Exhibitions: modern art and sculpture can be seen in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital

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Most of Sri Lanka's art scene you'll find in Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka. Here you find modern art galleries and exhibitions in fancy restaurants as well as first class hotels. You'll be surprised what scope of contemporary art Sri Lanka has to offer.

 

Where to find a gallery for contemporary art in Sri Lanka

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Contemporary painting and sculpture will be shown at some galleries in Colombo. To plan your visits in galleries that exhibit the art you like, you might consult the internet or local magazines in Sri Lanka and particularly Colombo and look for adverts. However, you'll be thrilled about the great quality of modern art, painting and sculpture, that you find in Sri Lanka. Contemporary Sri Lankan artists are pretty versatile!

 

Museum of modern art in Sri Lanka?

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There is no museum for modern art in Sri Lanka yet. So if you want to see the works of Sri Lanka's best modern artists, you'll have to visit a contemporary art gallery specialized on representing modern sculptors and painters.

All art lovers of the island hope, that there'll be a Sri Lankan museum for contemporary art in some years.

Sri Lanka can be proud of the many fantastic contemporary artists it has and should find a place to display the artistic works.

Sri Lankan artists are able to fill a museum with high quality art today!

 

Where to buy modern art in Sri Lanka?

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It's not much different from art buying in other countries. As an art collector you visit artist's studios, contemporary art exhibitions and galleries to select the painting or sculpture you like. And then - you just buy them!

Contemporary art from Sri Lanka is very cheap compared with gallery prices for modern art in London, New York, Paris or Berlin. It's a great investment - and it's fun to have!

 

Investment: will contemporary art from Sri Lanka gain in value?

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As an art investor you'll be aware that modern artists from countries like China or India have made spectacular carreers. Who ever has bought their sculptures or paintings a few years ago (when they were still affordable) would have made a nice profit by now.

Nobody knows about the future of contemporary art from Sri Lanka. Nobody can say which artist from will be famous all over the world one day. But if you like any piece of modern art from Sri Lanka, buy it also as an investment - you can only win.

 

 

Bildhauer in Sri Lanka

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A. Kalugalla ist ein zeitgenössischer Bildhauer in Sri Lanka. Der Künstler schafft seine der klassischen Moderne verpflichteten Skulpturen aus Stein, Holz und Metall und verzichtet dabei weitgehend auf Verweise auf die Tradition der Skulptur in Sri Lanka. Seine meist figurativen Plastiken sind von den Ideen des Expressionismus inspiriert, zeigen aber auch Tendenzen konsequenter Abstraktion.

 

 

 

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Tag cloud:

Contemporary Sri Lankan artist | Contemporary Sculpture | Wood carving | Contemporary Sculptor | Sculpture exhibition | Ceylon | Modern Art Exhibition | Stone Carving | Contemporary Art Gallery | Statue | Statuette | Figurine | Asian Expressionist | Bildhauer | Künstler | moderne Kunst | zeitgenössische Kunst | Kunstgalerie | Plastiken | Asien | Asiatische Kunst | Galerie

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