Chandra Bhattacharjee
Born on November 18, 1961 at Patuli, West Bengal, Chandra Bhattacharjee graduated from the Indian College, of Art and Draughtsmanship with a first class in 1986. Bhattacharjee was the recipient of a gold medal from Rabindra Bharati University in 1986 for excellence in fine arts. He started his career as a billboard artist and moved on to work as graphic designed with Economic Times before becoming a professional artist.
Chandra Bhattacharjee’s canvases are languid and far removed from the urban world. Dusky men and women exist in an ethereal realm untouched by the madness of everyday city life, carrying out their daily chores. Bhattacharjee’s compositions are influenced by the rural and tribal associations that he had an opportunity to work with; particularly the ‘Santhal’ tribe of Calcutta. The textural quality of his paintings is strongly reminiscent of the traditional mud walls of these villages, smeared with cow-dung.
Chandra uses the technique of crosshatching (a method used more often in pencil drawings), in black, over the colour; this adds depth to his colours. Bhattacharjee’s paintings tell a story, but it is a story without a beginning or an end and it flows seamlessly from the artist onto the surface of the canvas. The world of Bhattacharjee’s creation is without boundaries; where humans, animals and surreal creatures coexist in harmony.
