Arnab Basu was born in 1966, and displayed a latent talent of drawing from a very early age He was exposed to art and culture in his childhood and won several awards during his school and college years Although he was always interested in art he graduated with a degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from Jadavpur University in 1989, and later completed his Masters degree

Simultaneously, he continued to create art and also worked as a part time illustrator for a renowned publishing company in Kolkata starting 1985 During this time he also received national awards in caricatures/cartooning and water colour as well He then abandoned caricatures to take art more seriously and start creating fine art in 1992 His first oil on canvas, executed in 1993, showcased his strong sense of identity Although Basu continued to be an engineer while pursuing an art career, even creating a full length animated film, he finally achieved mainstream success much later In 2007, he decided to pursue art full time

His works reflect influences of both European surrealism as well as primitive tribal art His subjects are figures that evolve from pristine African Art and the contemporary Indian context They are often classified as abstract figuration, with elements that are disintegrated and reconstructed by juxtaposing them upon one another This lends his works a three-dimensional effect His paints too are applied following the same technique of layering, providing an ethereal aspect to the work

Basu has been the recipient of several awards during his artistic career and has exhibited in numerous shows across the country including Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Lalit Kala Academy, Cochin; Chemould Prescott Road, Indian Society of Fine Arts, Amritsar, Nehru Centre, Mumbai and Taj Bengal Art Corner among others