Draft:Pala Pothupitiye


Pala Pothupitiye, born in 1972, obtained his degree in Fine Arts at the Visual and Performance Art University in Colombo. Born in a traditional southern Sri Lankan craft-artists and ritualists cast, his work incorporates and reinterprets the material and philosophical content of traditional art.

Pothupitiye confronts issues such as colonialism, nationalism, religious extremism and militarism, and extends his inquiry to questions of caste, the distinction between art and craft, tradition and modernity, as well as generating a critique of Euro-centrism. His works spans many media and he is well known for his map-works.

His first ever art exhibition was in 2002, the Made in IAS group show at Gallery 706 at Barefoot. Pothupitiye was selected to participate in the third Fukuoka Triennial at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan in 2005, for the Singapore Art Biennale in 2016 and for the Karachi Biennale in 2017. In 2010 he won the first-place jury award of the Sovereign Art Asian Prize, Hong Kong. He is a cofounder and director of the Theertha International Artists Collective. At present, Pothupitiye is living and working at the Mullegama Art Center which he cofounded, where he runs his workshop, residency space and an art school, supporting younger artists and providing education for schoolchildren and university students.

His solo shows include ‘This Moment’ at Barefoot Gallery and ‘Until This Moment’ presented by BluePrint12 and Exhibit 320 in New Delhi; participation at ‘This is Tomorrow’, a special curated section of START Projects for solo artist presentations, START Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London (2015); ‘Sri Sri Lanka: Mapping post-colonial Ceylon’ at TARQ; ‘Pride and Power’ curated by Lalith Manage at Hempel Galleries, Sri Lanka (2014); ‘Costume’ curated by Dr. Thamotharampillai Sanathanan at Jaffna University Gallery (2010); and ‘Ancestral Dress + My ID’ at Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Colombo (2008).

PALA POTHUPITIYE

EDUCATION

2006     Training program in Pakistan traditional jewelry, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.

2006     Study and training, Pakistan traditional metal work & sewing, craft-villages, Lahore, Pakistan.

2002     University of the Visual and Performing Arts, (Formally know as University of Kelaniya, Institute of Aesthetic Studies), BFA in Sculpture, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

WORK CREDENTIALS

2012 – present  Founding Member, Mullegama Art Center, and lecturer.

2011 – 2012      Visiting Lecturer, Sculpture, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

2000 – present  Member of the Theertha International Artists Collective.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018     This Moment, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2017     Until This Moment, BluePrint12 & Exhibit320, New Delhi, India.

2015     Sri Sri Lanka, Artworks by Pala Pothupitiye, TRAQ Gallery, Mumbai, India.

2015     Solo artist presentations, START Art Fair at Saatchi Gallery, at Saatchi Gallery in London. (Organized by Hempel Galleries Sri Lanka)

2014     Pride and Power, curated by Lalith Manage, Hempel Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2010     Costume, Jaffna University Gallery, Curated by Dr. Thamotharampillai Sanathanan.

2008     Ancestral Dress + My ID, Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2003     Ancestral Dress, Gallery 71, Galle Fort, Sri Lanka.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

2019     Undefined Territories: Reflections on Post Colonialism, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Spain

2019     ‘A cross section’, group art exhibition of Sri Lankan artists, Jaleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2017     First Karachi Biennale, participant artist.

2017     Tale of Two Cities, Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Borella, Sri Lanka.

2016     Tale of Two Cities, Serendipity Arts Festival Goa.

2016     Singapore Art Biennale 2016, participant artist.

2015     RE:BELLION // RE:LIGION // RE:FORM, Artistic Action in Times of Crisis in Max-Pechstein-Museum in Zwickau, Germany, Curated by Susanne Altmann & Petra Lewey.

2014     Displacement Anxieties, Curated by Niilofur Farrukh.

2013     ‘Identities’: A Visual Engagement at Colomboscope, Colombo, Sri Lanka, curated by Annoushka Hempel and Lalith Manage.

2013     Narratives of Resistance, Gallery Espace, New Delhi.

2012     Becoming, 2nd Colombo Art Biennale, Sri Lanka, Curated by Suresh Jayaram and Roman Berka.

2005     3rd Fukuoka Triennial, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.

2005     Contemporary Sri Lankan Art: Works by 10 Artists, Millesgarden Museum Gallery, Sweden.

2006     Parallel Realities: Asian Art Now, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, UK.

2004     Aham - Puram, Public Library, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

2002     Made in IAS, Curated by Jagath Weerasinghe, Gallery 706, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

RESIDENCIES & WORKSHOPS

2018     First International Art Residency at Mullegama Art Center, Mullegama Sri Lanka.

2015 – 2017 A Tale of Two Cities. A cross cultural exchange project by Gallery Espace, Serendipity Arts Trust and Theertha Artists Collective with artists from India and Sri Lanka.

2014     Vijayanagar Art Residency – Abhisaran, A JSW Initiative.

2006     Residency Workshop, Beacon house National University, Lahore.

2005     Khoj International Artists Workshop, Mumbai, India.

2004     Swedish-Sri Lankan Residency Workshop, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

HONORS AND AWARDS

2010     1st Prize, Sovereign Art Asian Prize, Hong Kong.

2003     Best artist of the year, State Art Festival, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2003     First Palace, Sculpture, State Art Festival, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

References

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