My work is very much nearer to nature and has life like a tree or plant. My pieces respond to atmosphere like natural vegetation ... They grow under the sun, breathe open air, swing like trees and vibrate like leaves.
Avtarjeet Singh Dhanjal (1940-2025) was a British sculptor and multimedia artist of Indian origin, renowned for his engagement with natural materials and cross-cultural aesthetics. Born on April 10, 1940, in Dalla, Punjab, into a crafts-oriented family, Dhanjal's early experiences as a carpenter, blacksmith, and signwriter deeply influenced his artistic sensibilities.
In 1965, Dhanjal pursued formal art education at the Government College of Arts in Chandigarh, a city renowned for its architectural design by Le Corbusier. After graduating in 1970, he moved to East Africa, teaching sculpture at Kenyatta University College in Nairobi until 1974. That year, he relocated to London to study postgraduate sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art under William Tucker. His innovative work with aluminium caught the attention of the Alcan Aluminium Company, leading to a year-long project at their Tipton factory, where he created dynamic spiral sculptures utilizing the material's flexibility and responsiveness to wind.
Dhanjal's artistic philosophy centered on creating works that fostered silence, stillness, and contemplation. He believed that true creativity required disengagement from the distractions of contemporary society, aiming instead to attune to inner silence. His sculptures often combined materials like wood, aluminium, and stone, reflecting a harmonious blend of Eastern and Western artistic traditions.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Dhanjal received numerous public art commissions across Britain, India, Brazil, and the United States. Notable works include 'Grown in the Field' (1977) at the University of Warwick, symbolising the stages of a tree's growth, and 'Remains of a Pyramid' (circa 1990) in Birmingham's Senneleys Park.
Dhanjal was also active in promoting cultural exchange between Asia and Britain. He organized a Punjabi folk culture study trip in 1978 and a sculpture symposium in Punjab in 1980. He founded the Punjabi Institute exchange programme for students and teachers in Punjab and Shropshire and served as a trustee of the South Asian Visual Arts Festival, Sampad, and as a member of the West Midlands Arts Council.
His work was featured in significant exhibitions, including 'Between Two Cultures' at the Barbican Centre in 1982, 'Third World Within' at Brixton Art Gallery in 1986, and 'The Other Story' at the Hayward Gallery from 1989 to 1990 . In 1997, he held a major retrospective at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery in London, accompanied by a monograph authored by Brian McAvera.
Later in life, Dhanjal lived in Ironbridge, Shropshire, where he continued to explore creativity beyond traditional sculpture, delving into photography, installation art, and writing.