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Saskia Fernando Gallery is pleased to present Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s annual memorial exhibition, Meta-Real. Acting as a bridge between the past and the present, Meta-Real offers a distant contemplation of the socio-political developments of the nation since the 1980s. Coinciding with the anniversary of the 1983 Anti-Tamil pogrom on July 23rd, the exhibition continues the artist's inquiry into the socio-political and cultural landscape of Sri Lanka. The exhibition prompts viewers to contemplate unresolved issues that have persisted for four decades and the implications they could have for the democratic future of the country.
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The exhibition Meta-Real invites viewers to see beyond the so-called real and question what they see, especially this year, given that the elections have been declared. Amazing things are happening. Illusionary promises are being made. Politicians who have previously been revolutionary reinterpreting the past according to temporary political needs of the present.
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Landscape Which Cannot Be Escaped I, 2024"The constructed landscapes demand multiple loci of vision. One landscape depicts a cut-down tree, a blocked road, spread-out lifeless bodies, and destroyed electricity wires, a Bodhi tree with a statue. Another landscape is recreated referring to the actual place in Kanagapuram, Kilinochchi where 'wara'/Giant Milkweed plants (Calotropis gigantea) (milkweeds symbolise remembrance, dignity, and freedom) stand next to the forcibly demolished tombstones piled on top of each other resembling a crumbling stupa. Both landscapes have earth, sky, greenery, distance, and a pictorial effect that moves from troubled contemplation to realisation and enjoyment with aesthetic pleasure. However, the focus must be on historical and political alerts regarding the violence and wickedness that is spilt on the land." -
Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Landscape Which Cannot Be Escaped IV, 2024Acrylic on Canvas
152 x 304 cm
59 7/8 x 119 3/4 in -
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Landscape Which Cannot Be Escaped III, 2024Acrylic on Canvas
152 x 304 cm
59 7/8 x 119 3/4 in -
"We are living in a country where an uprising Áragalaya took place recently. We are still experiencing the effects of financial and political bankruptcy and continuing in our struggle to get out of it. We experienced three decades of war since 1983. In 2009, over 15 years ago, the war was ended militarily. Death, disappearances, disability, and displacement experienced in the war years still matter. Terrorism, terror, threats, destruction, arson, abuse and misuse of power, corruption, malpractices, nationalism, extremism, ethnocentrism, racism, hate, misinterpretations, constructed lies, moral policing, thugs and drugs, etc. are part of everyday life. This is mixed with a 'political and historical dementia'! Deaths, accidents, and disasters make headlines rather than achievements. News has become the consumption and sale of violence!"
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Landscape Which Cannot Be Escaped II, 2024Acrylic on Canvas
152 x 304 cm
59 7/8 x 119 3/4 in -
Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Diptych: Left & Right, 2024Other landscapes, a triptych and a diptych, were constructed with two visible, prominent political colours: green and red. The landscape in the triptych is obstructed with glitches. The diptych presents two ways of looking at the same type of landscape. In a year that an election is called, everyone plays with colours. Colours are political ideologies. -
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Triptych: Election Landscape, 2024Acrylic on Canvas
90 x 90 x 3 cm
35 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 1 1/8 in -
Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Landscape Undivided, 2024Oil on Canvas
92 x 153 cm
36 1/4 x 60 1/4 in -
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Chandraguptha Thenuwara
Hope, 2024Oil on Canvas
51 x 41 cm
20 1/8 x 16 1/8 in -
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Chandraguptha ThenuwaraVeneration, 2024Ink on Paper20.5 x 29 cm
8 1/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraTyres, 2024Ink on Paper20 x 29 cm
7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraTyres 2 , 2024Pigment Ink Pen on Paper20 x 29 cm
7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraTracks , 2024Ink Pen on Paper20 x 29 cm
7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in
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Chandraguptha ThenuwaraRest, 2024Ink Pen on Paper20 x 29 cm
7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraMonster 2 , 2024Pigment Ink Pen on Paper21 x 30 cm
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraEndless , 2024Ink on Paper20.5 x 29 cm
8 1/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraChaos, 2024Pigment Ink Pen on Paper21 x 30 cm
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 in
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Chandraguptha ThenuwaraFoliage, 2024Ink on Paper20 x 29 cm
7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraMalicious Alliance, 2024Pigment Ink Pen on Paper30 x 21 cm
11 3/4 x 8 1/4 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraDisappeared , 2024Ink on Paper29 x 20.5 cm
11 3/8 x 8 1/8 in -
Chandraguptha ThenuwaraMonster, 2024Pigment Ink Pen on Paper36 x 25 cm
14 1/8 x 9 7/8 in
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Chandraguptha ThenuwaraTyre, 2024Metal82 x 26 cm
32 1/4 x 10 1/4 in -
Each composition depicts 'real' images. Most painting surfaces are constructed with loose and energetic brushstrokes, creating layered surfaces with colours and textures on the canvases. While all compositions are realistic, recognizable, or representative, they are beyond the 'real'. So what is real? Meanings and understandings are behind, beyond, above, or imaginary. Is it conceptual realism? It is Meta-Real.
META-REAL | CHANDRAGUPTHA THENUWARA
Past viewing_room
