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Spotlight on Tejbir’s circus

March 14 - 20, 2018
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Gulf Weekly Spotlight on Tejbir’s circus

Gulf Weekly Mai Al Khatib-Camille
By Mai Al Khatib-Camille

Architect Tejbir Singh, who captivated people across the kingdom with his recent exhibition of intricate and colourful sketches highlighting the beauty of Bahrain, is now making his mark on a global scale by featuring an award-winning image at a popular art event in the US.

The father-of-two’s drawing of London’s Piccadilly Circus has won him a spot as one of the top 10 finalists of the Artbox.Project New York 1.0 and his work will be featured during The Armory Art Weeks exhibition which is staged every March.

Indian expat Tejbir, the head of architecture in Emaar Engineering, who lives in Juffair, said: “I’m thrilled and it was quite unexpected as I am not a full time artist. It took me almost a week to complete my sketch of Piccadilly Circus, to draw it in pencil and then to ink it. I usually put in sometime early in the morning before going to work and then over the weekend.

 “My drawing depicts a scene taken from a trip to London. I was inspired after a long walk through central London when I headed towards the spot to rest up at the fountain along with many other tourists from all over the world.”

The Artbox.Project was founded by The Artbox.Gallery Switzerland to give upcoming artists from around the world a platform to present their pieces and their profiles. This allows aspiring artists the opportunity to participate at art-hotspots all around the world and a jury selects a certain number of finalists and semi-finalists each time to showcase their installations, paintings, sculptures, photography or vidoes.

The creators had come across Tejbir’s sketches and penned pieces on Saatchi Art, an online art gallery that connects like-minded people together, and invited him to participate in the competition.

Tejbir said his prize artwork captured a ‘fascinating scene’ with different people resting in different poses.

“Some were resting with their hands between their legs, some were busy on their smart phones and some chatted away to each other,” he explained. “The classical fountain and sculpture of Eros the archer and the classical architecture completed a perfect picture.

“I used sketch pens and markers to bring out the detailing with sparing use of water colours. Basically, I created a monochromatic painting as I didn’t want the colours on the clothes of the people to cause a distraction and I wanted the whole scene to blend in.

“My original painting will be displayed there and three others will be put on show digitally.”

Tejbir’s piece will be on display until Saturday at the Stricoff Gallery in the Art Quartier Chelsea along with the other top painters and sculptors from the US, South Africa, Mexico and Netherlands.

This exhibition brings together artists, art collectors, gallery owners and many stars to celebrate creativity. The submitted artworks which have not been selected as finalists will be integrated into the Artbox.Project video which will be shown on an oversized screen during the two-week exhibition.

The 100 semi-finalists will also be specially presented in the art video and each piece of art will be shown several times a day with the artist and artwork name. The artists have an opportunity to send the organisers their business cards so that they can pass them onto potential buyers and interested parties during the exhibition.

However, the overall winner of the Artbox.Project New York 1.0 will be chosen by the public from the 110 highlighted with a public voting in New York during the exhibition. The top prize will be a ‘cooperation agreement’ with the Artbox.Gallery Switzerland.

Tejbir’s wife, Chandan, a marketing and training consultant, his daughter Rasneet, who is studying interior design in India and his son, Harjyot, who works in the UK, say they are proud of his accomplishment.

For more details visit the exhibition, email tejbirsingh25@gmail.com or follow him on Instagram @tejbirsingh25.

 







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