Santanu Hazarika is an Indian multidisciplinary autodidact visual artist. He is the winner of the 2014 Red Bull World Doodle Art Championship. Santanu’s artistic skills have a range of styles including graphic novels, street art, sci-fi, animé, video games, fantasy, dark humour, metal music, and mythology.

Wiki/Biography

Santanu Kaushik Hazarika [1] was born on Monday, 1 April 1991 (age 32 years; as of 2023) in Guwahati, Assam, where he grew up. His zodiac sign is Aries.

He studied mechanical engineering (2012-2014) at the Royal School of Engineering and Technology; however, he dropped out in the final year to pursue a career in doodling. Santanu earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design (2016-2018) from the LISAA School of Art &

Design (also known as L’Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués). [2]

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 10″

Hair Colour: Black with Light Golden Blonde highlights

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Santanu Hazarika belongs to a middle-class Hindu Assamese family.

Parents & Siblings

His father, Ramen Hazarika, is a businessman, and his mother, Mili Hazarika, is a homemaker.

Santanu has a younger brother named Partha Hazarika, who is a musician.

Wife & Children

Santanu Hazarika is unmarried and has no children.

Relationships/Affairs

Santanu Hazarika’s relationship with actress Shruti Haasan began in 2020, marking a noteworthy chapter in both their lives. The coupling of an accomplished artist with a talented actress sparked interest among fans and media alike. In interviews, Santanu spoke fondly of their connection, emphasizing the mutual inspiration they drew from each other’s artistic pursuits.

Their relationship, however, took a turn since then, leading to their recent breakup. The reasons behind this shift remain private, shrouded in the discretion that often surrounds celebrity affairs. As of now, Santanu Hazarika is navigating the realm of singledom, focusing perhaps on his creative endeavors and personal growth.

The ebb and flow of romantic entanglements are a part of life’s tapestry, even for those in the public eye. Despite the end of this particular chapter, both Santanu Hazarika and Shruti Haasan continue to captivate audiences with their respective talents, forging ahead on their individual paths.

Career

Red Bull

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 ultimately won. In the final round, Santanu was assigned with creating a doodle inspired by Hinduism on a blank canvas of the Taj Mahal.

Drawing from his knowledge of the religion, he illustrated 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 the title of Red Bull World Doodle Art champion, Santanu won a cooperation deal with the Red Bull Consumer Products Team to design a graphic for a T-shirt that was sold on the online shopping platform of Red Bull in 2015. The recognition he received from these competitions boosted his confidence, leading him to drop out of his engineering program and pursue a career in visual art and design. Santanu worked as a graphic designer for Red Bull from 2014 to 2017.

Dilate Ink

Santanu Hazarika founded ‘Dilate Ink, a brand developing and creating unique characters and printing 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 (IT Guwahati) from August 2015 to September 2016. In November 2016, he got an opportunity to be part of ‘Mojarto, an e-commerce marketplace for art display of the media firm NDTV; he was associated with the platform till 2017.

Santanu worked as an artist at the Ministry of Culture of the 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.

NET Artwork

Santanu Hazarike created a stunning piece of art in collaboration with Ritviz, an Indian singer-songwriter and electronic musician, to celebrate the release of one of his albums in 2021. The NET artwork was named ‘Sanviz’ and was launched on the WazirX NFT marketplace at a price of 300 WRX (equivalent to $388.5). Remarkably, it sold in a mere 37 seconds, earning a place among the quickest NFT sales globally.

BLCK

In January 2022, Santanu held his first-ever solo exhibition entitled “BLCK,” which highlighted his love for monochromatic art, at Gallery Art & Soul in Mumbai. The exhibition consisted of various black-and-white art pieces and visitors including celebrities wearing black-coloured attire to match the theme.

In an interview, Santanu discussed the choice of ‘BLCK’ as the exhibition’s title, explaining that it represents his artistic journey, which began with doodling with rich black ink tones. Santanu, in the interview, said,

BLCK is an extension of my turbulent existence and the contentment it brings to me. I began my practice using the deep black tones of India Ink, so when you doodle using black ink, the metascape it allows is very graphic, there are no tonal qualities you rather depend on the ability to sketch, it absorbs light. BLCK is a reflection on my artistic practice, it absorbs popular culture into intertwined vines of hands, skulls, human bodies and images that mirror our minds, the chaos that descends into our bodies from the images that we consume. Emotionally driven and violently molded, BLCK is an invitation into my world of comfortable turbulence.”

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 wellspring of inspiration.
• In an interview, Santanu reflected on his early engineering days in Tamil Nadu, sharing his struggle with depression and medication due to underperformance and the pressure of meeting his parents’ expectations of becoming an engineer; however, he found solace in his love for doodling. Santanu further said that he would often note the information he learned from his teachers in the form of drawings during lectures.
• Santanu is an avid animal lover and has two pet dogs.
• He has hosted many doodling workshops in collaboration with various brands including
  Adidas with the goal of raising awareness about doodling and promoting it as a viable career option.
• From murals and cars to sneakers, Santanu’s art has adorned a wide range of both conventional and unconventional canvases.
• He was associated with Dibrugarh University, Assam, as a speaker 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 2022 World Cup anthem, which featured individuals with inspiring stories of overcoming adversity and following their dreams. The anthem, a remake of the classic song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, featured American rapper Lil Baby.
• He has appeared as a jury at various events such as the Red Bull World Doodle Art
• Championship (2023) and Royal Enfield Art of Motorcycling (Season 3).

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