IN Surrey, Canada’s fastest growing and most diverse city, a Chandigarh-bred artist, Jarnail Singh, is reaping unusual accolades for his art. This famous Sikh artist has found an unusual ally in this province’s famous animal, the spirit bear, to create an artwork that been adopted by the city as its official mascot. His work, titled ‘‘I Love Surrey Spirit Bear’’, is the first work by an Indian to be officially adopted in this country. Singh was one of the many artists sponsored to create such mascots for different cities across the province.
The artist incorporated just about everything about his adopted city and country into his mascot — the maple leaf and its different faces. ‘‘I painted the bear red, except for its face, feet and hands, which I painted white, keeping with the colours of the Canadian national flag. Then I painted white maple leafs all over the bear, over which I made different ethnic faces, including mine. I also painted ‘‘I love Surrey’’ here and there. My work is my way of summing up the city artistically,’’ he says.
His creation was officially opened this week, and Singh was given a token honorarium of $500. The work will be auctioned to the highest bidder, and the money will go to the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities. The auction promises to be a big event as Surrey can easily surpass the famous Southall of London for having the largest concentration of Punjabis in any city outside Punjab.
Singh, son of legendary artist Kirpal Singh who was behind the Central Sikh Museum in Amritsar, wears many hats. He is an artist, designer, painter, photographer, illustrator and a journalist. His works are displayed at the Central Sikh Museum in Amritsar, the Punjab War Museum in Ludhiana, the Museum of Rural Punjab in PAU, the Indian Embassy in Washington, various Punjab and Indian government departments and major gurdwaras.
In Canada, where he moved from Chandigarh five years ago, he boasts of the first-ever mural of Sikh history at the Canadian Singh Sabha Gurdwara. His works are displayed at Rexdale and Dixie Road Sikh shrines in Ontario.
Source: ExpressIndia.com
Surrey, BC – May 15 – by Gurmukh Singh
