Anupa's everyday reality

Anupa Perera's naturalistic and aesthetic depictions of everyday life highlight the influence of Realism in his art. His vivid yet subdued presentation of still life as well as figures create a visual picture that stays etched in one's mind for a long time.

by Ryhanna Salie

Anupa says Realism is difficult because it portrays the actual. But he enjoys the challenge and uses his preferred medium, oil on canvas that enables him to produce three dimensional images of his subjects, to create 'the actual'.

Three dimensional in his inspiration as his art, Anupa also has a leaning towards Modernism, which is revealed in his painting titled 'Guernica is not the last painting'.

This alludes to Pablo Picasso's portrayal of the Spanish civil war. Anupa explains he gave his painting the peculiar title because he believes there will be many such paintings in the future due to the trauma and horrors of several wars in all parts of the world. In this context, he agrees with Sigmund Freud's theory of catharsis that examines the way in which individuals can sublimate traumatic life experiences through the medium of art.

Symbolic as well as realistic, the toy car at the bottom of his painting signifies the Machiavellian politics of powerful nations waging war and playing games with poor countries. The toy car also signifies the mechanization of individuals as a result of the wars and the dependence on modern technology, which has caused humans to behave like automatons.

When asked about the way in which he creates amazingly realistic and breathtakingly beautiful paintings, Anupa explains that it is his mastery of the glazing technique that enables him achieve the three dimensional effect.

He says after painting the first coat, he waits for it to dry and then paints at least three more layers, which is why he requires at least one month to complete a painting. Anupa paints in vibrant shades of green, pink, magenta, orange, red and yellow that give an added vibrancy to his masterpieces. But he also likes to paint in white, use his fingers to paint village scenes and adroitly turn still life into tactile object just about ready to jump out of the canvas.

His 'White Symphony' is a representation of the objects in his house; while finger painted village scene captures the essence of rustic life and relates a story through vivid three dimensional pictures. His still life paintings highlights his genius in transforming ordinary objects such as fruits, vegetables, kitchen utensils and furniture into an extraordinary visual picture.

A student of Jagath Ravindra, Sarath Gunasiri and Chandragupta Thenuwara, who taught art at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Anupa, enjoys teaching art, which he does at a school in Anuradhapura, reading, listening to music and also watching movies.

His favourite books are Martin Wickramasinghe's 'Madol Doowa', 'Gamperaliya', 'Yuganthaya' and 'Kaliyugaya' and he enjoys the music of Sunil Edirisinghe, W.D. Amaradeva and Victor Ratnayake. His favourite movie is 'The Lord of the Rings'.