At WIELS Kulendran Thomas presents a series of small paintings and one very large one, together with a 24-screen video work, all of it newly commissioned. Referencing the work of early Sri Lankan modernists like Justin Pieris Deraniyagala and George Keyt, who are credited with bringing cubism to the island, Kulendran Thomas’ paintings are composed using a neural network trained on the colonial art history that was first brought to Sri Lanka by European settlers. They are then hand-painted and depict scenes from the beaches of Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka – perhaps from a debauched party, perhaps from a brutal massacre. Figures painted using a photo-reflective emulsion emerge from the darkness with a ghostly presence, illuminated by the warm glow of a spherical video work titled Peace Core (2024).... Read more