Malaysian artist celebrates life’s small, random details after heart surgery

A visitor having a conversation with artist J. Anu at his new exhibition of smaller works at Wei-Ling Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Azhar Mahfof

Malaysian contemporary artist Anurendra Jegadeva, or better known as J. Anu, is showing no signs of slowing down after undergoing heart surgery last year in Australia, where he has been based since 2015 (his second stint Down Under, the first being in the early 2000s).

After the successful operation (a quadruple bypass) and recovery process which took a few months, Anu went straight back to work in his home studio in Melbourne and painted right until a new exhibition deadline arrived last month.