Samik De is a Kolkata-based contemporary artist with over two decades of practice, known for reimagining mythological icons — Ganesha, Durga, Krishna, Hanuman, Mahakali, Chaitanya — through a bold, modern lens. Born in 1961, he trained at Rabindra Bharati University, earning a B.F.A. in 1986 and an M.F.A. in 1989 with a Gold Medal, after an earlier Silver Medal at the East Zone Youth Festival. He has held eight solo shows since 1990 across Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, with group exhibitions in Chicago, Zurich, Dubai and London's Nehru Centre. His figurative paintings render men and women in swirling masses of colour, their eyes left deliberately empty — an invitation for viewers to project their own memory and emotion. In devotional works, deities emerge from dense, Madhubani-inspired linework against deep blue and maroon fields, gold accents flickering like sacred sparks, the intricate and vibrant compositions balancing analytical precision with creative expression.