With acute intensity and warm sensitivity, Harminder Singh Boparai attunes his imagination into form, picked up and turned over to be fully realized as they transform with every turn and during the process the material merges the emotive and the external with the personal. A makeover of trash by him turns into an admirable piece of art. For instance, a sculpture depicting a bee on a flower, he uses cast-away cooler fans for petals and discarded foot rests of a scooter for the wings of the bee. In another sculpture symbolizing two dancing girls, the artist uses old milk containers to create the girls’ dresses, supported by twisted iron rods for limbs.
His art is not just limited to creating the best out of waste, though. His latest achievement is the Silver Minar award, the highest in the art category, at the recently concluded Delhi International Film Festival. He had showcased a sculpture symbolic of the logo of British entertainment firm HMV. The famous and one of the most loved logos shows a little dog (named Nipper) sitting inquisitively before a gramophone listening to his master’s voice coming from the horn.
Artist Statement :
I have a passion for all the discarded things and am even a compulsive hoarder. What seems unappealing or quirky to others is inspiration to me. I look for my object of beauty at unlikely places in waste bins and garbage dumps and transform the objects of my fancy into three-dimensional figurines. I love turning everyday objects into interesting things. This is also my way to conserve nature by recycling metal.
2-year diploma in Sculpture from the Tac Art Academy, Ludhiana
AWARDS
Gold Medal in Zonal Youth Festival 2001, 2002.
Gold Medal in Inter Zonal in Punjabi University, Patiala, 2002.
Awarded by DeshBhagatYaadgari Committee, Jalandhar in 2006
Appreciation Certificate from PunjabLalit Kala Academy, 2011
Punjab Lalit Kala Award, 2012
Best Art Work awarded from Delhi International Film Festival 2012
Award 2014 from the Indian Academy of Fine Arts (ASR)
NATIONAL ART ICON AWARD 2014 from Hammerartag, DELHI
PARTICIPATIONS: Annual Exhibition of Academy of Fine Arts, Amritsar 2007, 2008, 2010 & 2013; Annual Exhibition by Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh 2008; Annual Exhibition by Lalit Kala Academy, Punjab in 2010, 2011, 2012; All India Exhibition Shimla, 2010; International Art Exhibition by SODEFA, Chandigarh in 2012; International Film Festival, Delhi 2012, 2013 & 2014; Group Shows in Ludhiana, Welkom Palace 2004,Tac Art Gallery2005, Gallery Artmosphere2009, 2012, 2013, Ireo Water Front2011, Dr. M.S.Randhawa Art Gallery ( P.A.U.)2012, Bistro 226 Restaurant2013; Group Shows in VirsaVihar, Jalandhar, in 2011, 2013; Contemporary Art Exhibition, Chandigarh by Ocher Art 2013, by ‘Artfile’ 2014; Group show “Asha” at Epi center, Gurgaon, from 22nd March to 24th March 2013; Group shows at Gurgaon, The Art Place 2013, T he Art Gallery2014, The Epicentre 2014; Group show “ Mind Modernist in Demand “ at “The Open Palm Court”, India Habitat Centre, Delhi from 13th August to 17th August 2013
Group show “Ekam – towards the countless….”, at ‘The Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, Delhi curated by ‘4th Wall’ from 21st August to 24th August 2014
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