Multi-Talented Contemporary Artist
Hong Kong
Kosala
Gunasinghe a.k.a. Kos, was born in Sri Lanka into an artistic family and began
drawing and painting at an early age. After school, his playground was his
father's agency workshop, where he studied and practiced brush skills in the
golden age of hand-drawn advertising. In 1999, he moved to Hong Kong, where he
has worked in a creative capacity in the film, advertising, and digital
advertising industries.
Kos paints in loud and dominant styles, cheap brushes used to apply dripping oils in crude fast brush strokes, experimental combinations of acrylics and charcoal, tropical color pallets carried to the extreme. From the inspiration he draws on to his choice of subject matter and the materials he uses, Kos's work is a celebration of diversity in every sense.
Kos was encouraged to draw and paint from a young age, and after school he would practice in his father's workshop, who was a creator of hand-painted signs. As an adult, he relocated to Hong Kong where he has worked as a creative director in the advertising and film industries. Kos is drawn to portraiture more than other forms of painting, due to the complex and changeable nature of the human face.
Kos is an artist who enjoys a challenge, avoiding the traditional approach to portraiture. He begins with short strokes to sketch the facial features. Kos then uses crude brushstrokes or throws paint onto the canvas to add dynamic movement and energy to the work. His paintings are characterized by experimental combinations of acrylics, oils and charcoal, and a vivid and bold color palette.
Kos has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Hong Kong and overseas, and participates in fairs such as the Asia Contemporary Art Show. He has also been shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Arts Prize in London.
Solo exhibitions
2017
Life Goes on Within You Without You / Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences -
Central, Hong Kong SAR China
2017
Incomplete Totality / Kliq Art Space - Causeway Bay, Hong Kong SAR China
2015
Transfigurations / PubArt Gallery - Central, Hong Kong SAR China
2014
Serene Majesty / PubArt Gallery - Central, Hong Kong SAR China
2013
The Devil Inside / PubArt Gallery - Central, Hong Kong SAR China
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Group exhibitions
2018
UNITY / Hong Kong Visual Art Center - Central, Hong Kong SAR China
2017
Asia Contemporary Art Show / Conrad Hotel - Admiralty, Hong Kong SAR China
2016
Asia Contemporary Art Show / Conrad Hotel - Admiralty, Hong Kong SAR China
2015
Art Rooms London / Meliá White House - London, United Kingdom
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Publications
2017
Sunday Times - Sri Lanka- Challenging an ideal
2017
Expat Living Hong Kong- Art in the City
2016
Exotiq Thailand- A FACE IN THE CROWD
2016
Sunday Times - Sri lanka- Refreshing free rein to imagination and
creativity
