There’s a Sri-Lankan Australian artist, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, who’s putting on an art show entitled The Self Portrait and the Masks. And you need to see it in Sydney.
Opening on Thursday 12 September and running until Saturday 12 October 2024, this exhibition promises to captivate audiences with a series of profound works.
Bits to know…
- The exhibition features a major and ambitious bronze work with cast self-portraits.
- It is the first exhibition that explores the loaded motif of the mask and what it means today.
- This is Nithiyendran’s first Australian solo exhibition following a series of successful projects in the UK.
- The exhibition opens two weeks after Sydney Contemporary, on Thursday, September 12.
- Special studio visits will be available, and interested parties are encouraged to advise their interest.
Following significant international projects in the UK, this exhibition marks Ramesh’s return to the Australian art scene since March 2023. The Self Portrait and the Masks will span both levels of Sullivan+Strumpf’s Sydney gallery space, introducing dramatic new elements to his sculptural practice. A first for Nithiyendran, this exhibition includes cast self-portraits integrated into a mixed-media installation that features bronze, paintings, drawings, and ambitious ceramic sculptures.
In this exhibition, Nithiyendran extends his exploration of religious iconographies connected to his Sri Lankan heritage, self-consciously addressing the politics of self-representation. He examines the motif of the mask within both contemporary and historical contexts to consider the unique formation of identities and figurative languages. This exhibition references a multitude of influences, from costume props and digital avatars to Sri Lankan Yakka masks and mythologies of shapeshifting.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is an iconic, magnum opus named after the show’s title. This large-scale, multi-part, hot-pink painted bronze figure stands with eyes closed in deep contemplation. Its facial features—realistically cast from Nithiyendran’s own face—are placed in a room filled with the artist’s distinct expressionist visages. The bronze figure, with outstretched arms, is surrounded by a constellation of wall-mounted bronze masks originally made from cardboard.
A cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse) sentiment is reflected throughout the installation, with many sculptures presented in modular form featuring interchangeable faces and limbs.
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is renowned for his contemporary approach to ceramic media and his diverse material vernacular. His works are part of major museum and gallery collections across Australia and Asia and are in significant demand with private collectors globally. The Self Portrait and the Masks is his first new body of work since his momentous international solo debut, Idols of Mud and Water, commissioned by Tramway in Glasgow from November 2023 to April 2024, which resulted in a significant acquisition by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Fine Arts in New Delhi.