Kingsley Gunatillake
Kingsley Gunatillake is a visual artist working across painting, sculpture, installation, and book art. He has participated in numerous national and international art workshops, solo and group exhibitions.
His recent works include solo exhibitions at the Freeze Art Fair in Seoul, Korea, and the New Delhi Art Fair. Additionally, his work was featured in a spotlight exhibition at Cinnamon life Hotel - City of Dreams.
Kingsley’s art has been exhibited extensively in Sri Lanka and abroad, with his works included in national and international art collections, including the Sri Lanka Presidential Art Collection. He is also a recipient of prestigious awards such as the BIB, NOMA, and Bhunka Awards.
Dedicated to contemporary art, Kingsley continues to explore and innovate through his creative practice.
キンスリ・グナティラカは、絵画、彫刻、インスタレーション、そしてブックアート を手がけるビジュアルアーティストです。彼は、数多くの国内外のアートワークショ ップに参加し、個展やグループ展を開催してきました。最近の作品には、韓国ソウル のフリーズアートフェアやニューデリーアートフェアでの個展などがあります。ま た、彼の作品はシナモンライフのホテル、City of Dreams でのスポットライト展にも 展示されました。 キンスリのアートはスリランカ国内外で広く展示されており、スリ ランカ大統領アートコレクションをはじめ、国内外のアートコレクションにも所蔵さ れています。彼は、BIB 賞、NOMA 賞、日本の文化賞などの名誉ある賞を受賞しています。現代アートに捧げられたキンスリは、彼の創造的な実践を通じて探求と革新を 続けています。
Māra
Year 2025 | Venue Saskia Fernando Gallery | Figures 1001
Kingsley Gunatillake’s Māra solo exhibition invites the viewer into a complex and layered exploration of desire, creation, and the unconscious. With conceptual audacity and aesthetic sophistication, the exhibition pushes the boundaries of Gunatillake’s distinct auteuristic approach, inviting contemplation on the nature of human ambition, spirituality, and the psyche.
Drawing inspiration from his longstanding connection with Japan, especially the minimalist elegance found in its cultural expressions, the exhibition’s conceptual seed was sown during a visit to the Sanjūsangen-dō shrine in Kyoto. There, Gunatillake encountered the 1,001 statues of Kannon, which ignited the idea for Māra, a project that would take nearly three years to materialize.
Greed
Hatred
At the core of Māra lies a reimagined vision of Māra, traditionally conceived in Buddhist cosmology as a tempter and deceiver, the embodiment of illusion and desire. However, Gunatillake recasts Māra as not merely an antagonist, but as a dynamic, life-affirming force. Challenging the binary of good versus evil, he contends that desire, often framed as the root of suffering, is, in fact, a fundamental catalyst for human creativity and purpose.
For Gunatillake, Māra becomes a symbol not of malevolence but of ambition -- a force that drives humans to dream, innovate, and transcend. Through this provocative reinterpretation, he urges the viewer to question whether we should vilify desire or, instead, recognize it as the very energy that fuels existence.
-- Japanses text to be added here --
A centerpiece of the exhibition is a series of intricate bronze figurines, each an embodiment of this reinterpreted Māra. These figures fuse the aesthetics of the Samurai with futuristic, mechanized motifs, evoking both the ancient and the contemporary. Making it simply timeless. While originally conceived as a collection of 1,001 figurines, the exhibition showcases 800, each with its own distinct facial expression -- some fierce, others joyful, all brandishing a combination of traditional and modern weaponry.
Placed within a darkened room, mounted on steel steps and surrounded by crushed stone, the figures encourage deliberate navigation. This arrangement, at once simple and profound, heightens the viewer's awareness, urging them to slow down and reflect on the work with mindful attention.
Delusion
Ego
In Māra, one might also trace the influence of psychoanalytic theory, particularly Freud’s conception of the id --the unconscious forces of desire and instinct that propel human behavior. Gunatillake’s portrayal of Māra as a driving, creative energy aligns with this notion, suggesting that these primal impulses, though often suppressed, are intrinsic to the human condition. The exhibition becomes, then, a meditation on the darker, more instinctual aspects of the self - forces that, while frequently misunderstood or repressed, are essential to human existence.
Kilesa Māra (Defilement Māra)
The inner enemy: greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), delusion (moha)
The inner enemy: greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), delusion (moha)
In conclusion, Māra is a striking showcase of Gunatillake’s artistic finesse, where every element of the exhibition invites reflection. The bronze figurines stand as delicate yet powerful representations of Māra, merging traditional and futuristic styles in a way that feels both timeless and contemporary. The paintings, with their layers of gold, silver, and copper, create a shifting dance of light and shadow, drawing the viewer in with every glance.
The subtle changes in tone and texture offer a glimpse into the hidden depths of desire and the unconscious, encouraging a deeper exploration of self. At its core, the exhibition reimagines Māra not as an antagonist, but as a force of creativity and ambition, highlighting how desire shapes both our actions and our potential.
While the gallery’s space may have limited the full scope of the vision, Māra remains a thought-provoking and immersive experience, blending aesthetic beauty with philosophical depth. Gunatillake’s work continues to inspire a dialogue about the forces that shape our inner worlds, offering both a visual and intellectual journey.
Portfolio : https://kingsleygunathillake.myportfolio.com/
Address : 27/2, 3rd lane , Gurudeniya Road , Ampitiya , Kandy , Sri Lanka
Contact Number : +94 77 736 6793