Senaka Senanayake

Senaka Senanayake is a contemporary Sri Lankan painter. His work, characterized by its brilliantly colored scenes of lush, overlapping jungle fauna and vegetation, has earned him a reputation as one of Sri Lanka’s most appreciated artists. “Many times, people walk by a piece of art and don’t respond,” he has explained. “I want my paintings to talk. Everyone from a street sweeper to a university professor should be able to relate to my art.”

The artist has been the subject of solo exhibitions around the world in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Berlin, among many others. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1951, he went on to study art at Yale University. Senanayake draws influence from a diverse range of sources, including his childhood experience, the vibrant landscape of his home country, and archaic forms of traditional Buddhist art.