A section of Bikash Bhattacharjee's works is considered surrealist. An explanation is needed.
Generally, when we say surrealism, the first thing that comes to mind is Dali and his famous work ‘Hanging Time.’
Hanging Time by Salvador Dali
Here, Surrealism refers to dream-like art. It is said that Salvador Dali used to sleep with alcohol dipped cotton balls on his eyes - to “make him dream better”.
Bikash’s surrealist works are a little different. They are about a twist, a hidden message. “What you see is NOT what you get “. Bikash, of course, was one of the finest draughtsmen of our times, but to add these messages, these twists - he must also have been an extremely intelligent person and with a sense of humor (sometimes dark humor).
As an example, let's look at one of his finest works, an early artwork from the 1960s [1]. I would title this artwork “Vanity”.
VANITY (Woman Holding a Vanity Mirror), 1950s
Mixed Media on Paper, 3 x 2 ft., Published [1]
No matter how rich or poor we are, whether man or woman, whether young or old, we will always be admiring ourselves (using a vanity mirror).
A very different kind of surrealism. Bikash’s own.
References
1 - Close to Events: Works of Bikash Bhattacharjee by Manasij Majumdar
