Surreal lines, satirical visions: Shishir Bhattacharjee's work on display at Kala Kendra

The line is perhaps the simplest tool in art, yet in the hands of Shishir Bhattacharjee, it becomes a world of its own; playful and sharp, surreal yet satirical. At Kala Kendra, his lines dance, fracture, and reassemble into stories of memory, dream, and resistance. Visitors walking through the gallery are not just looking at drawings- they are entering a theatre of the subconscious, where humour and pain live side by side.

Cartoon as an art form in Bangladesh first came into prominence through the works of Rafiqun Nabi, and it was his student, Shishir Bhattacharjee, who carried that legacy forward. Over the decades, Shishir Bhattacharjee has become not only one of the country's most celebrated cartoonists but also a contemporary artist whose practice bridges satire, surrealism, and socio-political critique.

This exhibition at Kala Kendra marks his return after more than a decade, presenting 94 artworks spanning from 1990 to 2025. The body of work includes diverse media: acrylic, pen, marker, and ink on paper- yet every piece carries the unmistakable signature of his line: alive, restless, and deeply human.

The exhibition opens with the 1990 series; a remarkable set of ink drawings created in response to poems by more than ten writers. In these works, Bhattacharjee translated words into images, filling the page with elements of Bengali life: fish, cattle, women, the head of Devi Durga, and intricately detailed amulets. Later published under the title Nodi, this series captures not only the aesthetic spirit of the time but also its cultural and social pulse.

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By 2011, Bhattacharjee's works took a playful detour. Bold cartoon characters appeared, echoing Western influences yet firmly grounded in local satire. This body of work highlights his versatility as an artist who can shift seamlessly between humour and critique.

As the artist himself notes, "The artwork is mine, but the vision belongs to the viewers." His practice explores the subconscious mind, where dreams intertwine with small fragments of reality, creating surreal and thought-provoking compositions. His drawings embody this principle. The lines: sometimes soft, sometimes jagged- move fluidly across the paper, echoing the movements of the subconscious. Dreams, wreckage of memory, and sharp satire fuse together, creating a world that is surreal but never detached. Instead, it feels startlingly close to everyday.

The later years 2017 onwards mark a period of intensified exploration of the subconscious. Works from 2021 to 2025 carry surreal juxtapositions of scrappy bodies, birds, flowers, and most strikingly, eyes. The recurring eye is a dominant motif: sometimes calm, sometimes piercing, often unsettling. It becomes a mirror to our daily social experience, reflecting both collective anxieties and individual fragility. Alongside, his works speak urgently of climate change and environmental distortions, weaving in his sense of social responsibility.

This work presents a human head fused with a tree trunk, its crown brimming with broken fragments like kindling, while flames rise at the base and a ticking clock looms overhead, surrounded by stumps of vanished trees, stark symbols of ecological devastation. Its surreal intensity also recalls the dreamlike distortions of Salvador Dalí, placing Bhattacharjee's vision within a global lineage of urgency and imagination.

The atmosphere at Kala Kendra reflects the resonance of Bhattacharjee's practice. Visitors express excitement, recognition, even exorcism. Many speak of how the works mirror their own inner conflicts and social realities. The exhibition design, despite its density of 94 works, avoids clutter and noise. Each piece is given space, allowing the audience to breathe with the artworks, to move from one decade to another without losing rhythm.

Shishir Bhattacharjee, long celebrated for his fearless cartoons, reaches a defining milestone with this landmark retrospective. At 65, the exhibition brings his journey into focus - from narrative storytelling and biting satire to dreamlike canvases and vital ecological reflections. More than an exhibition, it stands as a mirror to Bangladesh's shifting social and political landscape. It is also a testament to Bhattacharjee's legacy: one that will inspire younger generations to see art not only as expression, but as a powerful instrument of freedom of speech.

Running until 27 September 2025 at Kala Kendra, this exhibition is more than a collection of artworks. It is a journey into the subconscious of a nation, seen through the eyes of an artist who has never stopped drawing lines of humour, protest, and wonder. Shishir Bhattacharjee reminds us that a single line, drawn with conviction, can carry both the weight of history and the lightness of dreams.