In the early 1990s, Weerasinghe pioneered the “90s Art Trend,” a movement that rejected decorative aesthetics in favour of a raw, visceral response to Sri Lanka’s civil conflict. His landmark 1992 exhibition, Anxiety, introduced a visual language of fractured figures and gestural intensity to express the collective trauma of state and ethnic violence. This period established his role as a “witness” to history, a theme that persists in his work today.

In 2000, Weerasinghe co-founded the Theertha International Artists’ Collective, an artist-led initiative that decentralized the Sri Lankan art scene and fostered exchange with global practitioners. His dual identity as a conservator and artist allows him to treat the canvas as an archaeological site—stripping away layers of national myth to reveal uncomfortable truths.

A recipient of the David Lloyd Kreeger Award and the Bunka Cultural Award, Weerasinghe has held fellowships at ICCROM (Rome) and visiting positions at UC Berkeley and UCL. His scholarly publications, such as Living Sacred Heritage and ‘Authenticity’ in South Asia (2011) and An Overview of Modernisms in Sri Lanka Art (2010), remain essential texts for understanding the region’s cultural heritage.

His works are held in prestigious international permanent collections, including Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), USA, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Australia.

Education:

1991 — Master of Fine Arts Degree (Painting), American University, Washington D.C. USA

1988 — Conservation of Rock Art, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, USA

1988 — Conservation of Wall Paintings, International Center for the Scientific Study and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Rome, Italy.

1981 — Bachelors of Fine Arts (Painting and Sculpture), Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Solo Exhibitions (selected):

2025 — Discovery of Histories, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2025 — Yellow Wall & Celestial Menace, Millennium Art Contemporary, Athurugiriya, Sri Lanka.

2025 — How Many Skies Have Fallen, Nature Morte, Dhan Mill, New Delhi, India.

2025 — Discovery of Histories, PRFSG, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2023 — Impetus, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2020 — April Works: Backpacks, Bombs & Borders, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2018 — Writing a Letter to You, KHOJ, New Delhi, India.

2018 — Belief: The Promise of Absence, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2018 — Days Without a Night, Goethe Institute, New Delhi, India.

2018 — Dream for Me, KHOJ, New Delhi, India.

2016 — With or Without Me/aning, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2015 — Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2014 — Decorated, Breese Little, London, UK.

2014 — Decorated, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2009 — Shiva Nataraja, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2009 — Celestial Violence, Red Dot Gallery, Baddegana, Sri Lanka.

2006 — The Reading Room: Thousand Shivas and Thousand Mikes, Singapore Biennale, Singapore.

2005 — The Celestial Underwear, Phenomenal Space Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2003 — Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2000 — (My) Inability of Painting Woman, Gallery 706, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1997 — Recent Paintings, Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1997 — Yantragala and the Round Pilgrimage, Heritage Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1995 — Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1992 — Anxiety, National Gallery of Art, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Group Exhibitions (selected):

2025 — After-Aphantasias, CCA Building, Bikaner House, New Delhi, India.

2025 — The Persistence of Memory, Grosvenor Gallery, London, UK.

2025 — A Journey (with KALA), Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2019 — Shades of Black and White, J.D.A Perera Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2019 — Crossing Place, Baik Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

2018 — Art Dubai, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Dubai, UAE.

2017 — A Tale of Two Cities, Red Dot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2017 — Portraits of Intervention: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA.

2016 — Tale of Two Cities, Adil Shah Palace, Goa, India.

2016 — Tale of Two Cities, Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts, New Delhi, India.

2016 — Portraits of Resistance, India International Centre, New Delhi, India.

2016 — India Art Fair, NSIC Exhibition Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi, India.

2015 — Colomboscope: Shadow Scenes, Rio Hotel and Cinema, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2012 — Drawings, Breese Little, London, UK.

2012 — Mediated (Data Art), Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2012 — Art of Resistance, Espace Gallery, New Delhi, India.

2012 — Colombo Art Biennale, J. D. A. Perera Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2011 — Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka, Asia House, London, UK.

2009 — Artful Resistance: Crisis and Creativity in Sri Lanka, Museum fur Volkerkunde Wien, Vienna, Austria.

2009 — Designing Peace, Marian Pasat Roces, MCDA, Manila, Philippines.

2007 — Arte Curioso, Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Baddegana, Sri Lanka.

2005 — Ten Artists from Sri Lanka, Milles Garden, Stockholm, Sweden.

2004 — Aham Puram, Jaffna Public Library, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

2004 — Urban and the Individual, Phenomenal Space Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

2002 — ‘Crafty Thoughts’, University of Liverpool Gallery, Liverpool, UK.

1999 — Asia-Pacific Triennial, Queensland Gallery, Australia.

1997 — Dialogue, Gallery Mount Castle, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1996 — Die Welt zu Gast, Spiel Bank, Dortmund, Germany.

1994 — 4th Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan.

1994 — New Approaches in Contemporary Sri Lankan Art, National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Residencies:

2019 — Baik Art Residency, Davidson College Art Galleries, North Carolina, USA.