Anupa Perera’s first solo presentation with PRSFG as a represented artist opened on March 21 and ends on April 22.
In ‘Dreaming of Candies and Guns’, Perera’s still life paintings exist in a realm far removed from the tactile reality of the surroundings he captures. Characterised by a playful unpredictability the series delves into themes of political unrest and environmental concerns through everyday objects.
The apparent innocence of Anupa’s still life paintings hides an insidious threat that becomes clear through careful deliberation, symbolized by the objects surrounding Perera’s compositions.
Anupa Perera’s practice is primarily focused on still life paintings that arouse the audience’s curiosity with an unpredictable playfulness.
He deliberately integrates seemingly unrelated objects —random memorabilia and everyday items that defy conventional associations such as foods, household objects, guns and paper boats. Perera adopts the techniques of the Renaissance masters with a contemporary flair to critique the socio-cultural dilemmas of Sri Lanka.Perera positions his still life compositions as both reflective of the Sri Lankan cultural context and relevant to the universal human experience.
