Santanu Hazarika is an Indian multi-disciplinary self-taught visual artist. He was the winner of the Red Bull World Doodle Art Championship 2014. Santanu’s artistic skills span a wide range of styles including graphic novels, street art, sci-fi, animé, video games, fantasy, dark humor, metal music and mythology.
Wiki/Biography
Santanu Kaushik Hazarika was born on Monday, 1 April 1991 (age 32; in 2023) in Guwahati, Assam, where he grew up. His zodiac sign is Aries.
Childhood photos of Santanu Hazarika
He studied mechanical engineering (2012-2014) at the Royal School of Engineering and Technology; however, he dropped out in his senior year to pursue a career in sketching. Santanu earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design (2016-2018) from LISAA School of Art & Design (also known as L’Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués).
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 10″
Hair Color: Black with Light Golden Blonde highlights
Eye Color: Black
Family
Santanu Hazarika belongs to a middle class Assamese Hindu family.
Parents & 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 with his family
Wife & Children
Santanu Hazarika is unmarried and has no children.
Relationships/Affairs
Shruti Haasan
In 2020, Santanu Hazarika started dating Shruti Haasan, an Indian actress and singer. In an interview, Santanu spoke about his bond with Shruti and said that the two are inspired by each other. Santanu, in the interview, said,
Shruti has inspired me in many ways. In fact, we are a very inspiring couple. Many things in our lives are actually inspired by each other, it’s like the incubation of ideas. It’s amazing that I have a partner who is equally creative and provocative in his own domain. Every day, I come up with so many different ideas, thoughts and perspectives. Having this kind of bond with your partner is very inspiring as an artist.”
Santanu Hazarika with Shruti Haasan
Career
Red Cow
While studying engineering at a college in Tamil Nadu, Santanu struggled to focus on his studies; however, during this time, he found solace in creating sketches and doodles and even started designing album artwork for local brands. In his fourth year of engineering, a friend encouraged him to compete in the 2014 Red Bull World Doodle Art Championship, which he eventually won. In the final round, Santanu was tasked with creating Hindu-inspired graffiti on a blank canvas of the Taj Mahal. Based on his knowledge of religion, he depicted Lord Vishnu, the six-headed serpent Adi Anantashesha (a devotee of Lord Vishnu), and a man surrounded by the universe and his personal creations; Adi Anantashesha symbolizes 0, 1, and infinity—the three coordinates that define the plane of existence or reality. With the title of Red Bull World Doodle Art champion, Santanu won a collaboration agreement with Red Bull’s Consumer Product Team to design graphics for T-shirts sold on Red Bull’s online shopping platform in 2015. The recognition he received from this competition boosted his confidence, causing him to drop out of the engineering program and pursue a career in visual arts and design. Santanu worked as a graphic designer for Red Bull from 2014 to 2017.
Santanu Hazarika after winning the Red Bull World Doodle Art Championship in 2014
Santanu Hazarika’s doodle from the Red Bull World Doodle Art Championship that he made on the Taj Mahal canvas
Expand Ink
Santanu Hazarika founded ‘Dilate Ink,’ a brand that develops and creates unique characters and prints them on t-shirts, in March 2014.
Graphic Designer & Artist
Santanu has been working as a graphic designer since 2012. He worked as a visual artist at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) from August 2015 to September 2016. In November 2016, he got the opportunity to be a part of ‘Mojarto,’ an e-commerce marketplace for media firm NDTV’s art display; he was associated with the platform until 2017.
Santanu Hazarika with Amitabh Bachchan at an event organized by Mojarto NDTV
Santanu worked as an artist at the Ministry of Culture, Government of India in New Delhi from November 2016 to December 2016. In April 2017, he collaborated with ‘Zoomcar,’ a car rental company, in Kolkata, West Bengal as an artist and worked until June 2017.
Santanu Hazarika while working with Zoomcar
NFT Artwork
Santanu Hazarike created a stunning artwork in collaboration with Ritviz, an Indian singer-songwriter and electronic musician, to celebrate the release of one of his albums in 2021. The NFT artwork is named ‘Sanviz’ and has been launched on the WazirX NFT market at a price of 300 WRX (equivalent with $388.5). Amazingly, it sold in just 37 seconds, earning it a place among the fastest NFT sales worldwide.
‘Sanviz’ – NFT artwork by Santanu Hazarika in collaboration with Ritviz
BLCK
In January 2022, Santanu held his first solo exhibition titled “BLCK,” which highlighted his love of monochromatic art, at Gallery Art & Soul in Mumbai. The exhibition consisted of various black-and-white artworks and visitors including celebrities dressed in black to match the theme.
Santanu Hazarika with one of his artworks at his exhibition, BLCK, at Gallery Art & Soul in Mumbai
In an interview, Santanu discussed the choice of ‘BLCK’ as the title of the exhibition, explaining that it represented his artistic journey, which began with scribbles in rich shades of black ink. Santanu, in the interview, said,
BLCK is an extension of my turbulent existence and the satisfaction it brings me. I started my training using the deep black tones of India Ink, so when you scribble using black ink, the metascape allowed is very graphic, there is no tone quality you rely more on the ability to sketch, it absorbs light. BLCK is a reflection on my art practice, it absorbs popular culture into a vine weave of hands, skulls, human bodies and images that reflect our thoughts, the chaos that descends into our bodies from the images we consume. Emotionally driven and violently shaped, BLCK is an invitation into my cozy world of turbulence.”
Tattoo
- He got inked tattoos on both hands.
Santanu Hazarika tattoo on both hands
- Santanu got a Deadpool tattoo on his right leg.
Santanu Hazarika tattoo on his right leg
Facts/Trivia
- Santanu displayed a natural affinity for sketching and drawing when he was a child. His artistic passion was ignited by the vibrant world of comic books that served as a source of inspiration.
- In an interview, Santanu recalls his early engineering days in Tamil Nadu, sharing his struggles with depression and medication due to poor performance and the pressure to live up to his parents’ expectations of becoming an engineer; however, he found solace in his love of doodling. Santanu said again, he often notes the information learned from his teacher in the form of drawings during lectures.
- Santanu is an avid animal lover and has two pet dogs.
- He has organized 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 during a doodle art workshop in collaboration with Adidas in Mumbai
- From murals and cars to shoes, Santanu’s art has graced a variety of conventional and unconventional canvases.
- He was associated with Dibrugarh University, Assam, as a lecturer for two months, i.e. from April 2016 to May 2016.
- Santanu was chosen as one of several artists to be part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 national anthem, which features individuals with inspirational stories of overcoming adversity and chasing their dreams. The anthem, a remake of the classic “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, features American rapper Lil Baby.
Santanu Hazarika (centre), with others, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
- He has appeared as a judge at various events such as the Red Bull World Doodle 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: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
