Based in Santiniketan, Atanu is a Santiniketan-based artist whose recent works present a renewed way of viewing contemporary social life. After completing his studies, he continued to live and practice in Santiniketan. His current approach reflects a more romantic engagement with his medium, expressed through vivid colours and a lively style, distinct from his earlier work.

His practice explores how the unconscious mind often overrides the conscious, revealing the duality in human behavior—how people act in certain situations and conceal their true selves. This is expressed through the symbolic use of Bahurupis, Bengal’s folk performers who transform into gods, goddesses, or mythological figures, evoking a range of emotions as they move through everyday life.

In many works, figures appear as Shiva and Kali as a couple, or carry their symbolic elements—reflecting layered identities and human relationships.