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Anshuman Ponnamperuma:
A teen has arrived
Gwen Herat
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Artist: Anshuman Ponnamperuma
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ART: Anshuman Ponnamperuma has arrived and in great style. All
of which he is unaware because he has seen only 14 summers. It was the
art of a teen and gorgeous to the point of youthful endeavour.
What a wealth of talent; what abundance of innovation among our
painters whether young or old but remains confined to the canvas. This
is what crossed my mind when I looked into the eyes of young innocence
of a kid in the making.
Hardly 14 years old, this gawky youngster from St. Joseph’s College,
Colombo is brimming with ideas some of which I saw on canvas in his
first solo exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery over the weekend
where he displayed 28 untitled paintings on a range of subjects close to
his heart and imagination splashed in oil on canvas.
Anshuman Ponnamperuma hails from a happy forward-thinking family who
supports his tender innovation and imagination.
The rural settings from his home environment and the figures that
cross their territory are imbedded in his mind unconsciously and yet he
is not ready to cope or reject their significance as he is self-taught.
He has time to mature and turn these visions in his chosen talent to
professionalism.
The artist’s life appears heading on a right track. There is a sense
of orthodoxy in his strokes that appear free and comfortable.
The smooth flawless finishes are yet to come by and they certainly
will with time because he has direct contact with nature when he looks
out of his window but he must learn to have eye-contact and store it in
his brain. I noticed that he is heavily influenced by the works of Post
impressionists.
His recasting of a painting of a battle between Greeks and Turks is
from a Master. Yet another from a famous French Revolution and again the
young artist is fascinated by the numerous vases filled with flowers
painted by Van Goh and Paul Czanne. Even Delacroix has cropt in.
The youngsters must refrain from showering his ardour of these great
artists in his work but build up his own individuality which he has in
abundance. His easel must stray towards his own talent.
Of course one has to remember that the self-taught artists needs
inspiration if he is to flower out as a great Sri Lankan artist like
Senaka Senanayake.
He has spectacular talent waiting and to make it to the top, Anshuman
must maintain his own signature through which art lovers will identify
him in the future. Studying Masters will not help him because he is too
young to distance himself from their influence and it might be too late
to break the habit.
His own art work on nature and figures impressed me to marvel at his
mixing of colour, subtle where it should be and bold to capture the
imagination. His ardour for animals was imminent as he had lovingly
stroked their lines. I was deeply impressed by his own creation of “The
Angry Sea” (I titled the painting).
The young mind has focused the ravage it could cause if one comes in
contact with its fury. The angry waves whirling around the water-washed
rocks, choking them with passion, capturing their identical colour
combinations, were very mature and commanding for a young mind. It
displayed what nature could do when in fury.
The paucity of nature, figures, events captured in still life and
though convincingly expressed by the Sri Lankan artist, it has not won
over foreign art collectors or for that matter, the critic and artists
like young Anshuman Ponnamperuma will have all the time to focus
attention towards international art centres.
It is sad that this situation prevail because I have crossed most of
the art galleries around the world, including the Masters’ collection in
Florence and I can say this, that our artists exposed to these
locations, can hold their own very comfortably. It is a matter of being
absorbed but who will do it for them?
I have the answer. Our embassies in the capital cities like New York,
London, Rome, Paris. They can make it a promotion towards our country’s
talented painters. The high standard among our artists must be projected
around the world.
We have such a diverse and strong cultural heritage that can flare up
flare up on canvas to create a sensation but our artists are denied that
opportunity and young Anshuman will be walking into the same situation
unless he dare break away and start a precedent because he has all the
time in the world to do so.
Our country is blessed with spectacular nature in all glory and our
doe-eyed, dark-skin damsels are artists’ dream come true. |
