The city has been a key matter of contention within the world of contemporary art. In a country such as Sri Lanka where the local art scene thrives in the urbanscape of Colombo, the city represents the fast-moving and forward-thinking undercurrent that carries Sri Lankan contemporary sensibilities. Cities have a simultaneous ability to embody both the most innovative and disruptive aspects of a country; a truly Janus-faced entity, their genius of opportunity and cultural exchange parallels the reality of urban poverty and socio-economic exclusion.
Contemporary artist Chathurika Jayani (b. 1984) is one of the leading voices concerned with urbanism, industrialism and contemporary city culture. Her work, which currently sits in the Cinnamon Life art collection, utilizes unconventional materials to examine the duality of modern urban progress in Sri Lanka, creating works like Dreamscapes and Dream Paradise that challenge the aesthetic and moral costs of urbanization, often highlighting pertinent social and environmental consequences such as communal displacement and the global climate crisis.
Chathurika has established a significant exhibition record both domestically and internationally, having exhibited solo projects at prominent galleries in Colombo such as Paradise Road Galleries, Saskia Fernando Gallery and the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery. Her work has been featured in several international art festivals and galleries across Asia, including the Asia Art Biennale in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2012), the National Art Gallery, Male, Maldives (2014), and Kathmandu, Nepal (2015), as well as the State Art and Sculpture Festival, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2012, 2017, 2018, 2019), among many others.
