Taprobane Collection

Muhanned Cader (1966)

“It is through drawing that he strives to formulate a visual language combined with signs and symbols observed in the objects and materials of everyday. Typically, many of the forms in his work are rooted in abstraction that comes from an observation of shapes, forms and colours in nature.” – Mariah Lookman

Muhanned Cader is a Sri Lankan artist born and raised in Colombo. As a student Cader showed an interest in art during his early years, and later went on to receive a formal art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1990s. Cader is recognized by Josephine Breese as an artist that belongs to a distinct school of thought in the contemporary art scene in the country due to his “fascination with abstraction”. He uses abstract motifs and imagery that may not directly depict his take on socio-cultural and political aspects of human existence, but could yield a multiplicity of meanings. Due to his ability to communicate universally through abstraction Cader has come to occupy a space of profundity and repute in Sri Lanka as well as overseas. He has exhibited in the US, UK, Australia, India, Singapore, Pakistan as well as Bangladesh on various artistic platforms since the early 1990s. He is also the first artist from the contemporary art scene of Sri Lanka to have had one of his work, “Nightscapes – Ocean, River and Sea” represented at a renowned Christie’s New York auction. Cader received the prestigious “Kala Suri” award presented by the Government of Sri Lanka in 2005, and the Bunka Award given by the Japan Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund in 2004. He has taught at the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts in Colombo and has been a visiting lecturer at the Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts located at the University of Jaffna. He currently divides his time between Colombo, Sri Lanka and Oxford, UK. 

Cader refers to his art as a representation of “true politics”, as he aspires to remove obvious political associations or commentary from his work. However, the abstract shapes and geometric variations he uses on the canvas can invite and inspire readings about power. His use of such uncommon and unique formats prevents the viewer from seeing the full scene, creating the mind space for “true politics” to emerge as a visual metaphor. For his solo exhibition Glueandstick held in 2017 at the Barefoot Gallery, Cader revived the cut-out technique used by Henri Matisse, using glossy and colourful cutouts from magazines such as the National Geographic to create high quality digital prints that make a commentary on environmental degradation as well as the negative repercussions caused by the political world such as loss of habitat and human displacement. Mariah Lookman, curator of the exhibition claimed that the works take Cader further in his journey of constructing an artistic identity for himself as he explores “bad politics” alongside “true politics” through visual metaphor associated with the slowly deteriorating wildlife and natural beauty of Sri Lanka. The abstract pieces from magazines make a statement by themselves: “these abstract compositions reflect Muhanned’s visual system of forms that he has been using to critique bogus ideas of development seen in his recent exhibitions, and become more pertinent in the present time of massive political change,” said Lookman. His previous exhibitions such as Island (2016) and Jungle Tide (2015) also dealt with the natural world and the rapid changes happening in Sri Lanka in terms of urban development promoted under the label of progress. 

Cader has always worked with the aim of “breaking the frame”, which he does mainly by avoiding the use of the rectangular frame on his canvas. The exhibition A Different Lens held in 2013 at the Koel Gallery in Pakistan is one attempt where he breaks the frame in relation to landscapes of the sea and the sky, using shapes that almost resemble the known such as a lion, a dove or a human bone. Although such works may not directly deal with political issues, Cader ensures that they disrupt the politics of image making. Such thinking can be traced to his fascination with cartography and the need to remove rigid framing of imagery and visuality. His installation “Galle Fort; Fort Kochi” displayed at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2014 uses non-rectangular shaping and framing to depict his rejection of fixed notions of identity. For this piece he used graphite on wood to signify different shapes and images he discovered on the coast of Kochi. 

Cader is also known for his series of artworks such as Never Mind the Bullshit (2011) and Coded and Loaded (2010), which are collections developed not necessarily as exhibits but as collectives that force reflection. Never Mind the Bullshit is a collection created using washed up materials found on the beaches of the island of Sri Lanka. Referring to the collection Cader said, “through these paintings, gouache on paper, I have juxtaposed the idea of tragedy with glory, for at the end of any conflict, the winners, or heroes are celebrated, and the rest forgotten. With this body of work, I have in my way paid a tribute to the ordinary and not glorious. In memory of all those, and all that stands resistant to the test and trials of time.” The collection is significant in that it uses unconventional and day-to-day material in the process of creation, highlighting the need to celebrate not only the heroes who brought peace ending the ethnic conflict, but also the ordinary citizens who underwent trauma living with a constant state of insecurity and fear. Such collections, therefore, although not as politically charged as the works of some of Cader’s contemporaries, engage in a socio-cultural and political commentary relevant to Sri Lanka as well as the universal context.

Year

Exhibition

Venue

2019

COLOMBOSCOPE: Sea Change

Colombo, Sri Lanka

2018

Abu-Dhabi Art 2018

Abu-Dhabi

2018

Seven Plus One

Lionel Wendt Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2018

Lahore Biennale 01

Lahore, Pakistan

2018

Dhaka Art Summit

Dhaka, Bangladesh

2017

Glueandstick

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2016

Island

Talwar Gallery, New Delhi, India

2015

Jungle Tide

Talwar Gallery, New York, USA

2014

Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Kochi, India

2013

A Different Lens

Koel Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan

2012

Lines of Control

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Cornell, USA

2011

Scripted Across the Indian Ocean

Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK

2011

Lines of Control

British Council, London, UK

2011

Non-Aligned

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2011

Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka

Asia House, London, UK

2011

Drawn from Life

Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK

2010

Casting Light

Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2010

Visual Responses During the War: Selected Works of Artists

Lionel Wendt and Harold Peiris Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2009

APT 6, Art Asia Pacific Triennial

Brisbane, Australia

2009

Drawn from Life: Drawing Form

Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK

2009

Colombo Art Biennale: Imagining Peace

Colombo, Sri Lanka

2009

Borderland

Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, UK

2009

The One-Year Drawing Project: An Exhibition of Drawings

Devi Foundation, New Delhi, India

2008

Drawn from Life: Drawing Space

Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK

2008

Drawn from Life: Drawing Process

Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK

2008

Recent Developments in Contemporary Sri Lankan Painting

Bezuidenhoutseweg 407, The Hague, Netherlands

2007

Drawing Sculpture

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2006

Singapore Biennale: Belief

Singapore

2005

Curry Side of the Moon

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2004

Landscapes

Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, Pakistan

2004

Drawings

Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2003

Birth of Un-Cool

Vibhavi Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2002

79 Days in Lahore

Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, Pakistan

2001

In Black and White

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1999

Nightscapes

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1999

No Groups Show

Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1998

International Artists Camp

National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1998

In-dependence

Lionel Wendt Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1998

Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture

Heritage Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1997

KHOJ International Artists Workshop

New Delhi, India

1997

Untitled, Drawings and Paintings

Heritage Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1996

Untitled, Drawings and Paintings

Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1996

Student and Faculty

Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1995

Untitled, Drawings and Paintings

Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

1994

Untitled

Below Nine Gallery, Chicago, USA

1993

Faculty and Students of Colour Show

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

1992

Untitled Group-Show

Gallery X, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Series

Year

Series

2011

Never Mind The Bullshit

2010

Coded and Loaded

 

Ref :MC 1

Title :Book 4, Glue and Stick

Signed :Reverse

Year :2017

Measurements in Cms :21 x 26

Material Used :Mixed Media Photo Collage print, Ink Jet on Hahnemuhle 100% Cotton Acid and Lignin-Free Paper – 305 gsm

 

Ref :MC 4

Title :Book 4, Glue and Stick

Signed :Reverse

Year :2017

Measurements in Cms :21 x 26

Material Used :Mixed Media Photo Collage Print, Ink Jet on Hahnemuhle 100% Cotton Acid and Lignin-Free Paper – 305 gsm

 

Ref :MC 7

Title :Book 4, Glue and Stick

Signed :Reverse

Year :2017

Measurements in Cms :21 x 26

Material Used :Mixed Media Photo Collage Print, Ink Jet on Hahnemuhle 100% Cotton Acid and Lignin-Free Paper – 305 gsm

 

Ref :MC 13

Title :Book 4, Glue and Stick

Signed :Reverse

Year :2017

Measurements in Cms :21 x 26

Material Used :Mixed Media Photo Collage Print, Ink Jet on Hahnemuhle 100% Cotton Acid and Lignin-Free Paper – 305 gsm

 

Ref :MC 16 & MC 17

Title :Jungle Forms

Signed :Reverse

Year :2015

Measurements in Cms :70 x 101

Material Used :Charcoal on Lambeth Drawing  Paper – 370 gsm

 

Ref :MC 22-2

Title :Objects Never to be Found

Signed :Reverse

Year :2009

Measurements in Cms :19.5 x 21

Material Used :Pencil on Fabiano Paper

 

Ref :MC 26-6

Title :Objects Never to be Found

Signed :Reverse

Year :2009

Measurements in Cms :19 x 21

Material Used :Pencil on Fabiano Paper

 

Ref :30

Title :Drawing Sculpture

Signed :Reverse

Year :2007

Measurements in Cms :28 x 38

Material Used :Ink & Pen on Water Colour Paper – 250 gsm

 

Ref :33

Title :Drawing Sculpture

Signed :Reverse

Year :2007

Measurements in Cms :28 x 38

Material Used :Ink & Pen on Water Colour Paper – 250 gsm

 

Ref :35

Title :Sea Scape 7

Signed :Reverse

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :50 x 50

Material Used :Pencil on Lambeth Paper – 370 gsm

 

Year

Qualification

Institute

1994

BA 

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

1990

 

Kendall College of Art and Design, USA

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