Chandragupta Thenuwara

Chandraguptha Thenuwara was born in Galle, Sri Lanka. He is a renowned artist, activist and educationalist. Thenuwara is a professor at the Department of History and Art Theory at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo where he also holds the posts of Deputy Editor in Chief, Journal of Visual and Performing Arts Research, Sri Lanka and is the Chairman of the Research Management Committee.
Thenuwara studied painting at the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya (1981) and Surikov State Art Institute, Moscow, Russia (1992) and went on to complete the degree Master of Philosophy at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR), Kelaniya University (2006).

Thenuwara’s work focuses on issues surrounding the impact of war in Sri Lanka. In response to the overwhelming crisis, he devised a unique stylistic formulation that he calls Barrelism. For Tonight No Poetry Will Serve Thenuwara has returned to his ‘Glitch’ series. In this abstract painting he continues to address systemic corruption and political violence in Sri Lanka. In Thenuwara’s making, the glitch is the ultimate leitmotif that mirrors our debased society.

Thenuwara has exhibited widely since 1978, and from 1997 to date- Thenuwara has been mounting an annual solo exhibition to commemorate the ‘un-commemorative’ in Colombo. His recent solo exhibitions in Colombo at the Saskia Fernando Gallery were M.O.B (2019), Executive Demon (2018), Glitch+ (2017 & 2016). His notable select group exhibitions are Shades of Black and White, JDA Perera Gallery, Colombo (2019), One Hundred Thousand Small Tales, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colombo (2019), A Cross Section: Sri Lankan Contemporary Art, Jaleh Gallery, Tehran (2019), Crossing Place, Baik Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2019), Seven Plus One: 25th Anniversary Show of VAFA, Lionel Wendt Gallery, Colombo (2018), Riot: Slow Cancellation of the Future, ifa Gallery, Berlin and Stuttgart (2018), Shadow Scenes, Colomboscope, Colombo (2015), Drawing: Chandragupta Thenuwara & Jagath Weerasinghe, Breeze Little Gallery, London (2009 and the One Year Drawing Project, 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) at Queensland Art Gallery, and Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India (2009).

Thenuwara’s works are a part of collections such as the Queensland Art Gallery Australia; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Japan; John Moore's University Art Collection Liverpool; Fine Arts Museum of Udmurtia, Izhevsk, Russia; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA. His public monuments include the Seeduwa Monument to the Disappeared (2000) and Monument to Neelan Tiruchelvam (2000) at Kynsey Terrace Colombo.

Chandragupta Thenuwara founded the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA), Colombo- an artist-run alternative art school- in 1993. He lives and works in Colombo, Sri Lanka.