Sacred travelogue: Artist J. Anu's latest exhibition in Malaysia

In the pages of the Sacred Altars monograph, readers will realise J. Anu’s art remains deeply Malaysian at heart. The title of this work is We Dance Alone, taken from his Conditional Love exhibition in 2008.

The sense of place has always been present in his works, says Anurendra Jegadeva, one of Malaysia’s leading contemporary artists, no matter where he is.

“My work has always been about the narrative, mostly autobiographical, but they always refer to the place and times they were made,” says the 52-year-old artist, fondly known as J. Anu, at the launch of Sacred Altars, his new 300-page monograph documenting his 30-year journey as an artist, at Wei-Ling Contemporary in Kuala Lumpur recently.