Having captured the public’s attention through thoughtful graffiti artworks, the rebellious youth character ‘Subodh’ by mysterious, anonymous artist “HOBEKI?” has recently emerged again in the capital.
The new graffiti was drawn on a wall on the way to Mirpur-12 ceramic road in the capital, which portrays a woman with a blue eyepatch in one of her eyes while adorned with a flower in her hair, standing against a black background, raising both hands and trying to call for an end to war.
A hashtag with the phrase “stop war” is also written on the graffiti, right above the signature “Artist: HOBEKI?”.
Analyzing this new piece of graffiti from the mysterious yet highly talented artist, art agency Artcon says that it is linked to Ukraine’s Motherland Monument.
“As we are in the middle of a global war between Ukraine and Russia, we think this new graffiti is somehow inspired by the famous ‘Motherland Monument’ in Ukraine. Located in the heart of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the sculpture is 335 feet high. It is part of the World War II Memorial Museum of Ukrainian History, but the important and surprising aspect is that the anonymous artist has successfully made a thought-provoking piece that needs to be studied,” Artcon founder ARK Reepon told UNB.
Although it is unknown who this mysterious artist is, every graffiti of the artist has a signature touch with the word “HOBEKI?” (Will it happen?) which suggests the name of the artist. Over the years, “HOBEKI?” has been featured in many renowned global media and garnered popularity across other countries, most notably in West Bengal, India.
An Instagram page of the artist in which “HOBEKI?” described themself as the “Hawker of Subodh,” announced on March 4 about the newest graffiti works through an open invitation post.
“I feel good enough to inform you all that I have managed to take control of a wall on the way to Mirpur-12 ceramic road, where I have introduced a new piece of artwork. The piece is still lying there, and I invite you all to pay a visit and enjoy this beautiful Black and White canvas, before it gets vandalized,” the post described.
The character ‘Subodh,’ the iconic graffiti character made by artist “HOBEKI?” is portrayed as a rebellious, naughty, random, almost ragged young man, and also the image of a very brave, rebellious youth.
Some of the iconic graffiti artworks surrounding this character grabbed public attention back in 2017 for quoting some ominous messages, while the artworks depicted a man running with a caged sun at various street walls in the capital’s Agargaon, Mohakhali and Old Airport areas.
There are many famous messages under this series which became highly popular and had been frequently shared on social media platforms, including “Subodh tui paliyey ja, ekhon somoy pokkhey na, tor bhaggey kichhu nei” (Flee Subodh, time is not on your side, nothing is written in your fate), “Subodh tui paliye jaa, bhuleo firey ashish na” (Flee Subodh, don’t even return by mistake), “Subodh, kobe hobe bhor?” (Subodh, when will dawn arrive?) and more.
Back in February this year, the famous graffiti series returned to the wall again but this time in Sylhet, during the unrest period of student protest at the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).
Students at SUST said that those two pieces of graffiti could have been painted to support their movement; however, one of those artworks in which the smiling Subodh was seen talking on the telephone with the logo of “HOBEKI?” was wiped from the wall just within a few days.
The motto of the anonymous artist “HOBEKI?” and his ‘Subodh’ Graffiti series, according to multiple graffiti works of the artists, is “The Beautiful Paintings are those which speak of the ugliest.”