CHANDRA BHATTACHARJEE

Born in 1961 at Patuli, West Bengal. He graduated from the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, Calcutta with a First Class First in 1986 and won a Gold Medal from Rabindra Bharti University. Since then he has held 10 solo shows and over 30 group shows. His paintings have been shown in New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo and Khatmandu. Chandra paints young people in somber tones infusing in them a quality of having experienced life's travails a little too early. His sensitive cross hatch texturing endows his canvas with a magical translucency. The rural tribes like the Santhals whom Chandra had a chance to interact with influence the use of his subjects. The backgrounds are dark monochromatic and the figures are sometimes juxtaposed with strange objects like corroded nails or flowers, further adding an element of the mysterious. Chandra Bhattacharjee went to Art School whilst still holding on to a job due to poverty. He knows that his paintings and the figures that inhabit them are sometimes dark. They come from deep with and reflect his life’s reality. His paintings show the interplay of seemingly random objects, coupled with a figure in muted colours of dark umber, oozing urban decay. In his painting a dark and brooding woman dazzles the viewer in her blue saree. The contrast is not lost on the viewer. He lives and works in Calcutta.