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Lot 66

 

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Senaka Senanayake’s art is anchored in the natural surroundings and inhabitants of Sri Lanka’s forests. Typically rendered using a bright and cheerful palette as can be seen in lot 65, which depicts a group of macaws, and lot 66, which depicts the Hindu deity Ganesha seated amidst a lush natural landscape, his artworks reflect his preoccupations with conserving and coexisting with the natural world.

An artistic prodigy, the Colombo-based... Senaka Senanayake’s art is anchored in the natural surroundings and inhabitants of Sri Lanka’s forests. Typically rendered using a bright and cheerful palette as can be seen in lot 65, which depicts a group of macaws, and lot 66, which depicts the Hindu deity Ganesha seated amidst a lush natural landscape, his artworks reflect his preoccupations with conserving and coexisting with the natural world.

An artistic prodigy, the Colombo-based artist is deeply committed to preserving the depleting rainforests of Sri Lanka - many of which were converted into tea estates and rubber plantations during the years of colonial rule - and uses his art to draw attention to this cause. “Senanayake’s paintings are gorgeously positive, his forests wearing saturated runway colours, his birds right out of an ancient fable. His style is often criticised as being purely aesthetic, but it is by no means emotionally inert. In fact, his work is an ironic reminder of the fading beauty of his world, a hope against hope that whatever is left of nature can be conserved. It is equal parts celebration, elegy and documentation of the fragile rainforests of Sri Lanka.” (V Shoba, “Senaka Senanayake: Life Is Beautiful,” openthemagazine.com, 15 July 2016, online)

His brightly hued canvases appear deeply spiritual, and evoke unbridled happiness, which is of great importance to the artist. The forest scenes of birds and animals within close-ups of large leaves and flowers evoke a dream-like magical realm that is reminiscent of the artist Henri Rousseau.

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