Biography

Muhanned Cader

Sri Lanka

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Painting
Muhanned Cader

Born in 1966 Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Lives and works between Colombo, Sri Lanka and Oxford, United Kingdom.

Muhanned Cader began his interest in art as a young student in his home city Colombo, Sri Lanka. From there, he went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA where he earned his BA in 1994.

Muhanned has exhibited widely. His more recent solo shows include Casting Light at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo 2010 and DrawingSculpture at Barefoot Gallery, Colombo 2008. His important group shows include the First Singapore Art Biennale (Belief) 2006 Singapore, Drawn from Life: Drawing Form, Drawn from Life: Drawing Process, and Drawn from Life: Drawing Space at the Green Cardamom Gallery, London 2008-9. Muhanned has also worked on a collaborative Raking Leaves publication titled The One Year Drawing Project that was first launched at Art Dubai 2008 and then at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The original art works since have been exhibited at SAVAC and the University of Toronto Arts Centre, the Devi Foundation in Delhi and at the Art Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane 2009.

 

Series:


Solo Exhibitions:

  • 2010. Casting Light, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2007. Drawing Sculpture, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2004. Landscapes, Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, Pakistan.
  • 2004. Drawings, Paradise Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2003. Birth of Un-Cool, Vibhavi Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2002. 79 days in Lahore, Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery, National College ofArts (NCA), Lahore, Pakistan.
  • 2001. In Black & White, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1999. Nightscapes, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1998. Exhibition of Paintings & Sculpture, Heritage Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1997. Untitled, Drawings & Paintings, Heritage Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1996. Untitled, Drawings & Paintings, Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1995. Untitled, Drawings, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.


Selected Group Exhibitions:

  • 2012. Lines of Control, curated by Hammad Nasar, Iftikhar Dadi & Ellen Avril, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Cornell, USA. [Cat.]
  • 2011. Scripted Across the Indian Ocean, (with Lala Rukh), curated by Mariah Lookman, Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK.
  • 2011. Lines of Control, British Council, London, UK.
  • 2011. Non- Aligned, curated by Mariah Lookman, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2011. Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka, curated by Saskia Fernando & Josephine Breese, Asia House, London, UK. [Cat.]
  • 2011. Drawn from life, curated by Hammad Nasar, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK. [Cat.]
  • 2010. Visual Responses During the War, Selected works of Artists, curated by Chandragupta Thenuwara, Lionel Wendt & Harold Pieris Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2009. APT 6, Art Asia Pacific Triennial, The One-Year Drawing Project, Brisbane, Australia. [Cat.]
  • 2009. Drawn from Life: Drawing Form, curated by Nada Raza, Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK. [Cat.]
  • 2009. Colombo Art Biennale (CAB): Imagining Peace, artistic director Jagath Weerasinghe, Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Cat.]
  • 2009. Borderland, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, UK.
  • 2009. The One-Year Drawing Project; an Exhibition of Drawings, Devi Foundation, New Delhi, India.
  • 2009. The One Year Drawing Project, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Canada.
  • 2008. Drawn from Life: Drawing Space, Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK. [Cat.]
  • 2008. Drawn from Life: Drawing Process, Green Cardamom Gallery, London, UK. [Cat.]
  • 2008. Recent Developments in Contemporary Sri Lankan Painting, Gallery Art Korner in collaboration with Barefoot Gallery, Bezuidenhoutseweg 407, The Hague, NL.
  • 2006. Singapore Biennale: Belief, SB2006, artistic director Fumio Nanjo, curated by Sharmini Pereira et al., Singapore. [Cat.]
  • 2005. Curry side of the Moon, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1999. No Groups Show, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1998. International Artists Camp, Colombo National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1998. In-dependence Group-Show, Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1997. KOJH International Artists Workshop, New Delhi, India. [Cat.]
  • 1996. Student & Faculty, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 1994. Untitled, Below Nine Gallery, Chicago, USA.
  • 1993. Faculty & Student 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.

 
Selected Bibliography:

  • 2011. Breese, Josephine. Unconventional Perceptions, The Herald, Karachi, Pakistan.
  • 2011. Art Asia Pacific, Almanac Issue 2012, Vol. VII.
  • 2011. Raza, Sara. Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka, Art Asia Pacific, Issue
    74, July/August.
  • 2011. Breese, Josephine. Sri Lankan Contemporary Art, The White Review,
    Issue 2.
  • 2011. Gioni, Massimiliano, (Artistic ed.). I am Not There: A source book, 8th
    Gwangju Biennale, 2010, Gwangju Biennale Foundation.
  • 2010. Cader, Muhanned. Shit Always Wins, 2010, Artist’s Project, Sohbet,
    Journal of Contemporary Arts and Culture, Lahore, Issue:01.
  • 2010. Art Asia Pacific, Almanac Issue, 2010, Vol. 5.
  • 2010. Plus. After the war: The answer begins in art, The Sunday Times,
    Sunday August 29, 2010, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 2009. Art Asia Pacific, Almanac Issue 2009, Vol. 4.
  • 2009. Ismail, Qadri. Bound Together: On a Book of Antiwar Sri Lankan
    Drawings, Art Journal, College Art Association, New York, USA.
  • 2009. Robson, David. Anjalendran: Architect of Sri Lanka, Tuttle Publishing.
  • 2008. Pereira, Sharmini. Influential-Emerging Art Asia Pacific, 15th
    Anniversary Special Issue, Issue 61.
  • 2008. Ismail, Qadri. The Politics of Art, The Sunday Leader, Sunday,
    August 24, 2008, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 2008. Pereira, Sharmini (curator, director). The One-Year Drawing Project, A
    Raking Leaves Publication, London, UK, first launched at Art Dubai,
    Dubai and The Serpentine Gallery, London, UK.
  • 2003. Jeganathan, Pradeep. Discovery: Anthropology, Nationalist thought,
    Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, And an uncertain descent into
    the ordinary, Lines, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 2003. Cader, Muhanned. The Birth of UN-Cool (A Satire on the United Nations), A VAFA Publication, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 
Commissions:

  • 2012-2011. Meissen Art Campus, Staatlichen Porzellan-Manufatur Meissen GmbH.
  • 2011-2012. Drawn from Life, Artist’s commission, Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal, UK.


Awards:

  • 2005. Kalasuri. Sri Lanka President’s title of honor for excellence in the Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • 2003. Bunka Award. Japan & Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund, Colombo, Sri Lanka.


In Collections:

  • Burger Collection, Hong Kong.
  • ASAL Collection, UK.
  • Devi Foundation, New Delhi, India.
  • Mirissa Hills Art Collection, Sri Lanka.