Chandra Bhattacharjee

Graduated from the Indian College, of Art and Draughtsmanship with a first class first in 1986. Conferred gold medal for excellence in fine arts by Rabindra Bharati University in 1986. Received Taj Gaurav award in 2008. Honoured by the President of India as artist-in residence at The Rashtrapati Bhavan in November 2019. I started my career as a billboard artist, subsequently did a stint as a graphic designer with The Economic Times.

I observed with wonder the rays of the autumn sun on green paddy fields, clouds gathering on the horizon, the harvesting of paddy, fisher folk at work, boat making, potters making clay dolls.

Chandra Bhattacharjees 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. Bahttacharjees 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.

The colours in Bhattacharjees paintings are at once, subdued and vibrant. Warm pinks, full-bodied blues, interspersed with blank areas, soothe the senses. He uses the technique of crosshatching a method used more often in pencil drawings, in black, over the colour, this adds depth to his colours. Bhattacharjees 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 Bhattacharjees creation is without boundaries, where humans, animals and surreal creatures coexist in harmony.

Bhattacharjee, although influenced by rural and tribal themes, has a firm academic grounding. He has studied at the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, Calcutta. He received a gold medal from the Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, in 1986. He has held several group as well as solo exhibitions of his works in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta.

Born

November 18, 1961 Patuli Bardhaman, West Bengal

Education

1989 Post-Graduate in Fine Arts, Kala Bhavan, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan.

1986 Graduated from the Indian College of Art and Draughtsman ship, Kolkata.

1987 Fine Arts, Kala Bhavan, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010 Galerie 88, Kolkata

2008 Fe2O.nH2o  aeons visible, Galerie 88, Kolkata

2007 Organized by Gallery Threshod at The Gallery in Cork Street, London

2007 Indelibilities, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006 Small Format Works, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore

2005 Jehangir Art Gallery and Gallery Beyond, Mumbai

2005 Galerie 88, Kolkata

2004 Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2003 Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2001 Crimson, Bangalore

2000 Shridharani, New Delhi and Gallery Apparao, Chennai

1998 Gallery Apparao, Chennai

1998 Crimson, Bangalore

1997 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1994,95,97 Center Art Gallery, Kolkata

Selected Group Exhibitions

2013 Edge of Reason- and beyond, into pure creativity, presented by Indian Art Circle at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2012 Angkor Wat An Indian Perspective, Gallery Art and Soul, Mumbai

2011 Cross Currents, Art Positive, New Delhi

2010 10 x 10, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2010 Snow, The Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi in collaboration with Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2009-10 Unclaimed Spaces, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2009 Indian Harvest, presented by Crimson- The Art Resouce, Bangalore at SG Private Banking, Singapore

2008 Faces, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 Life Is a Stage, ICIA Gallery, Mumbai

2008 Magic of Monochrome, Gandhara, Kolkata

2008 Art Now, A Glimpse, Emami Chisel Arts, Kolkata

2008 Art Divergent Discourses, Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore

2008 Gallery Muller & Plate, Munich

2008 New York Academy of Art

2008 Gaze Within, Gaze Without, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2007 Diverse Idioms, Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong

2007 Tales, Reflection & Constructs, Gallerie 88, Kolkata

2006 India on Canvas, Exhibition and Auction organized by Khushi at New Delhi

2006 Essence, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2006 Sensuality, Perception and the Self, Galleria, New Delhi

2006 Glimpses of Bengal, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2006 Angkor, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2006 Art of Young Bengal, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata

2006 Chivas Art, Gallerie 88-Chivas Regal, New Delhi and Mumbai

2006 Merging Cultures, Sarjan, Baroda

2006 Indiart Show, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, Lasalle-SIA College of Fine Arts, Singapore

2006 New Colors of Sumukha, Bangalore

2005 Bikash Bhattacharya, A Source of Inspiration, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

2005 Ways of Seeing, Art Alive, New Delhi

2005 Ardhanarishwara, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Indian Contemporary Art, organized by Gallery Sumukha at Quayside Gallery, UK

2005 Water Color Show, Galerie 88, Kolkata

2005 Versions, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2004 Contemporary Expressions from India, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu

2004 Gallery Beyond, Mumbai

2004 New Paradigms-II, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2004 Viart, New Delhi

2004 Summer Show, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 Scenes from Voyage, Nehru Centre, London

2004 Red, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2004 Art Pilgrim, New Delhi

2004 Bondings, ITC Sonar Bangla, Kolkata

2004 Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2003 Viart, New Delhi

2003 Sanskriti Gallery, Kolkata

2003 Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2003 Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2002 Gallery Espace, Argosy at Dubai Marine Beach Club

2002 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2002 Gallery Pilgrim, New Delhi

2002 Freedom, Gallery La Mere, Kolkata

2002 Gleam of Metal, Pallette Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Shridharani, New Delhi with Gallery Threshold

2002 Chitrakoot Gallery, Kolkata

2002 Sanskriti Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2002 Tomorrows Blue Chip, Apparao Galleries at New Delhi and Chennai

2002 Bowring, Gallery Espace, New Delhi

2002 Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

2002 Concern India, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

2002 Show for Gujarat Riot Victims, Taj Bengal, Kolkata

2001 Concern India, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

2001 Palette 2001, New Delhi, Galleria, Mumbai

2001 Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai

2001 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

2001 Gallery Pilgrim, New Delhi

2001 Small Format Show, Sumukha, Singapore

2001 Saffronart.com group show, Hong Kong

2001 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2001 The Art of Bengal, Art Today, New Delhi

2001 Nude Studies, The Guild, Mumbai

2001 Artworld, Hong Kong

2001 The Guild, Hong Kong

2001 Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

2000 Threshold Gallery, Vizag

2000 Chitrakoot Gallery, Kolkata

2000 Visions and Attitudes, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2000 Crimson Art Resource, Mumbai

1999 Salar Jung Museum, organized by National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA, Hyderabad

1999 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1999 Crimson Gallery, Bangalore

1999 Birla Academy for Art and Culture, Mumbai

1999 Apparao Galleries home shows in Toronto New York & Singapore

1999 Son et Lumiere, Mumbai

1999 Gajah Art Gallery, Singapore

Participations

2012 Small is Beautiful, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2012 Art for Humanity, Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai

2012 Synergy 2012, 12th Anniversary Show, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Art Celebrates 2010, represented by Gallery Threshold at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi to coincide with the hosting of the Commonwealth Games

2008 Harvest 2008, organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Synchrome 4, Akar Prakar, Kolkata and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

2007 Art Singapore

2007 Adana Biennale, Adana, Turkey

2007 Imprints, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo

2007 Power of Peace, BaliThe United Nations

2006 Synchrome 3, Annual Show of Akar Prakar, Kolkata

2005 XI Indian Triennale India

2005 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

2004 Annual Show, Gallery Sara Arakkal, Bangalore

2004 Harvest 2004, Arushi Arts, New Delhi

2002 Annual Show, Gallerie 88, Kolkata

2002 Annual Show, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Singapore Art Fair, Singapore with Apparao Galleries

2002 Annual Show, Gallerie 88, Kolkata

2002 Annual Show, Gallery La Mere, Kolkata

2001 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

Honours and Awards

2008 Received Taj Gaurav Award

1986 Received Gold Medal from Rabindra Bharati University for Excellence in Fine Arts