Santanu Hazarika is an Indian multidisciplinary self-taught visual artist. He is the 2014 Red Bull World Graffiti Art Championship Champion. Santanu’s artistic skills span a variety of genres, including graphic novels, street art, science fiction, anime, video games, fantasy, dark humor, metal, and mythology.
Wiki/Biography
Santanu Kaushik Hazarika was born on Monday, April 1, 1991 (32 years old; as of 2023) and grew up in Guwahati, Assam. His zodiac sign is Aries.
Santanu Hazarika childhood photos
He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Royal College of Engineering and Technology (2012-2014); however, he dropped out in his final year to pursue a career in graffiti. Santanu holds a BA in Graphic Design (2016-2018) from LISAA School of Art and Design, also known as L’Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′10″
Hair Color: Black with Light Blonde Blonde Highlights
Eye color: black
family
Santanu Hazarika was born into a middle-class family in the Hindu state of Assam.
Parents and siblings
His father Ramen Hazarika is a businessman and his mother Mili Hazarika is a housewife. Santanu has a younger brother named Partha Hazarika, who is a musician.
Santanu Hazarika and his family
wife and children
Santanu Hazarika is unmarried and has no children.
Relationships/Affairs
Shruti Haasan
In 2020, Santanu Hazarika started dating Indian actress and singer Shruti Haasan. In an interview, Santanu spoke about his relationship with Shruti and said that they both draw inspiration from each other. Santanu said in an interview,
Shruti inspires me in many ways. In fact, we are a very inspirational couple. Many things in our lives actually inspire each other, just like the incubation of ideas. Surprisingly, I have a partner who is equally creative and provocative in his own field. Every day, I come up with lots of different thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. As an artist, having this connection with your partner is very inspiring. “
Santanu Hazarika and Shruti Haasan
Profession
red bull
While studying engineering at a college in Tamil Nadu, Santanu found it difficult to concentrate on his studies. During this time, however, he found solace in creating sketches and doodles, and even began designing album covers for local brands. In his fourth year of engineering, a friend encouraged him to enter the 2014 Red Bull World Graffiti Art Championship, which he eventually won. In the final round, Santanu was assigned to create Hindu-inspired graffiti on a blank canvas at the Taj Mahal. He used his knowledge of religion to depict Lord Vishnu, the six-headed snake Adi Anantashesha (a devotee of Lord Vishnu) and a man surrounded by his personal universe and inventions; Adi Anantashesha symbolizes 0 , 1 and infinity – the three coordinates that define the plane of existence or reality. With his title as the Red Bull World Graffiti Art Champion, Santanu won a partnership with the Red Bull Consumer Products team to design a graphic for a T-shirt sold on the Red Bull online shopping platform in 2015. These competitions boosted his confidence and led him to abandon engineering courses and pursue a career in visual arts and design. From 2014 to 2017, Santanu worked as a graphic designer at Red Bull.
Santanu Hazarika after winning the 2014 Red Bull World Graffiti Art Championship
Red Bull World Graffiti Art Championship graffiti by Santanu Hazarika on Taj Mahal canvas
Expansive ink
Santanu Hazarika founded the brand “Dilate Ink” in March 2014, which develops and creates unique characters and prints them on T-shirts.
Graphic designers and artists
Santanu has been working as a graphic designer since 2012. From August 2015 to September 2016, he worked as a visual artist at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati). In November 2016, he had the opportunity to become a part of “Mojarto, the art showcase e-commerce marketplace for media company NDTV; he was associated with the platform until 2017.
Santanu Hazarika and Amitabh Bachchan at an event organized by NDTV’s Mojarto
From November 2016 to December 2016, Santanu worked as an artist in the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, New Delhi. In April 2017, he collaborated with the car rental company “Zoomcar” in Kolkata, West Bengal, as an artist and worked there till June 2017.
When Santanu Hazarika collaborates with Zoomcar
NFT artwork
Santanu Hazarike has collaborated with Indian singer-songwriter and electronic musician Ritviz to create a stunning piece of art to celebrate the release of one of his 2021 albums. The NFT artwork was named “Sanviz” and was launched on the WazirX NFT market with a price of 300 WRX (equivalent to $388.5 USD). Notably, it sold in just 37 seconds, making it one of the fastest NFT sales in the world.
“Sanviz” – NFT artwork by Santanu Hazarika and Ritviz
BLCK
In January 2022, Santanu held his first solo exhibition ‘BLCK’ at Art & Soul Gallery, Mumbai, highlighting his love for monochromatic art. The exhibition consists of various black and white artworks and visitors, including celebrities dressed in black to match the theme.
Santanu Hazarika showcases one of his art pieces at the BLCK exhibition at Art & Soul Gallery, Mumbai
In an interview, Santanu discussed the choice of “BLCK” as the title of the exhibition, explaining that it represented his artistic journey, starting with graffiti in rich shades of black ink. Santanu said in an interview,
BLCK is an extension of my tumultuous existence and the fulfillment it brings me. I started practicing with the deep black tones of India ink, so when you doodle with black ink, the meta-landscape it allows is very graphic, without any tonal quality you’d rather rely on the ability to sketch, which absorbs light. BLCK is a reflection on my artistic practice, which absorbs popular culture into an intertwining vine of hands, skulls, human bodies, and images that reflect our thoughts, the chaos that permeates our bodies from the images we consume. Emotionally driven and shaped by violence, BLCK invited me into a world of comfortable turmoil. “
tattoo
- He has tattoos on both arms.
Santanu Hazarika tattoos on both arms
- Santanu has a Deadpool tattoo on her right leg.
Santanu Hazarika’s tattoo on her right leg
Facts/Trivia
- Santanu showed an innate love for drawing and painting as a child. The vibrant world of comics ignited his artistic passion and became his source of inspiration.
- In an interview, Santanu looked back on his early engineering career in Tamil Nadu, sharing his struggles with depression and medication due to poor performance and the pressure to meet his parents’ expectations of becoming an engineer ;However, he found solace in his love of graffiti. Santanu further said that he would often record the information he learned from his teachers in the form of drawings during lectures.
- Santanu is an avid animal lover and owns two pet dogs.
- He has conducted numerous graffiti workshops in collaboration with various brands including Adidas with the aim of raising awareness of graffiti and promoting it as a viable career option.
Santanu Hazarika at graffiti art workshop in partnership with adidas in Mumbai
- From murals to cars to sneakers, Santanu’s art adorns a variety of traditional and unconventional canvases.
- He worked as a lecturer at Dibrugarh University in Assam for two months, from April to May 2016.
- Santanu has been selected as one of several artists to feature in the FIFA 2022 World Cup anthem, which tells inspiring stories of people overcoming adversity and following their dreams. This national anthem is a cover of the classic song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears and sung by American rapper Lil Baby.
Santanu Hazarika (centre) with others at FIFA 2022 World Cup
- He has served as a judge for various events including the Red Bull World Graffiti Art Championship (2023) and Royal Enfield Motorcycle Art (Season 3).
Santanu Hazarika’s Instagram post about Royal Enfield Motorcycle Art Contest (Season 3)
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education