(Visual Artist with Multiple Art style)
Traditional and Digital:
Sand Art_ Ink_ Acrylic_ Pastel...
3D VR Art_ digital Mobile Artist)(Animation & Filmmaker)
Story teller & Story BoardDirectorConcept Character & Environment
Animator Art Mentor
3D VR Gallery
“Halloween in Gabour’s Galaxy”
The special event “Halloween in Gabour’s Galaxy” took place on Halloween night, 2025, right in Gabor’s personal and local studio setting.
This local exhibition was designed around the concept of “Between Worlds”—an idea navigating the space between the galaxy and Earth, and the borders of identity. The event offered a unique opportunity for guests to directly experience Gabour's work in an intimate atmosphere. It featured a small, curated exhibition of Gabor’s recent expressive works, characterized by a surreal, space-focused mood.
The highlight of the evening was a live Sand Performance executed in three segments (Arrival, Connection, and Becoming). The space was designed with limited, dark lighting to accentuate the subtle movement of the sand and the light layers, creating a unified experience that blended the art with the studio environment.
Let me know if you need any adjustments or another translation!
Art Battle – International Live Painting Tournament
Gabour has competed in multiple editions of Art Battle Montréal, an international live painting tournament. During these competitions, he reached the Final Round twice, creating works that were subsequently sold at auction. For Gabour, these performances are a practice in immediate and raw expression, where the creative process occurs entirely in the present moment, transforming the act of painting into a shared experience with the viewer.
“The Little Prince” Cultural Event
The Little Prince Event – December 5, 2024
On December 5, 2024, Eera Art Café in Montreal hosted a special cultural and artistic gathering dedicated to The Little Prince, organized by Fatima Nikravish.
The event featured the launch of the newest Persian translation of The Little Prince by Ali Shokrolahi, followed by a live discussion, reading, and conversation exploring the book’s philosophical themes.
Gabour contributed with a live sand painting performance and an exhibition of sand-art-inspired works based on The Little Prince.
A warm, intimate, and inspiring evening filled with art, literature, and shared reflection.
Venue: Eera Art Café – Montreal, QC
Solo Exhibition _Casa Italia
Exhibition & Live Sand Painting Performance Casa Italia Gallery – Montreal, Canada Year: 2023
Techniques: Expressive Painting, Live Sand Painting on Glass
This solo exhibition presented a collection of Gabour’s expressive paintings at the historic Casa d’Italia gallery in Montreal.
Complementing the displayed works, Gabour performed his signature glass sand painting—a transient act that merges movement, light, and raw material.
The live performance explored themes of creation, transformation, and cultural memory, dissolving the boundaries between painting and performance art.
Art as a Voice:
Live Performances by Gabour in Montreal
Gabour’s 2022-2023 artistic season was marked by two significant live performances in Montreal, where he utilized sand art and painting to bridge the gap between ancient Persian epics and contemporary social movements.
1. The Khordadgan Festival: "Zahhak" (The Shahnameh)
St. Petersburg Hall, Concordia University
In this academic and cultural collaboration, Gabour presented a live sand art sequence for a theatrical production of "Zahhak" from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. The performance focused on translating the narrative elements of the epic into fluid visual transitions, serving as the live backdrop for the stage narration.
2. The Voice of Iran: Support for the Mahsa Revolution
Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier
Dedicated to supporting those affected by the Mahsa Revolution in Iran, this event featured a two-part performance by Gabour. He combined Sand Art Narration with Live Acrylic Action Painting to capture the courage and resilience of the movement. This project was a powerful testament to the role of visual arts in international social solidarity.
Gabour (Abolfazl Bayat) is a pioneering Iranian-Canadian multidisciplinary visual artist based in Montreal. Gabour's creative path began at the age of three, with early support from his mother, Mehri Sarkheil. Today, Gabor's professional portfolio stands as testimony to the seamless fusion of classical visual arts, traditional animation, and cutting-edge digital innovations including sand art, digital painting, and virtual reality (VR).
In his artistic journey, Gabour blends the boundaries between tradition and technology. Using diverse materials, Gabour creates conceptual worlds that invite the viewer into diverse realms of intuition, blurring the line between imagination and reality.(Academic Education)
Bachelors degree in Film Directing
Associate Degree in Animation Filmmaking
Diploma in Visual ArtsBeginning of Professional Activity Gabour officially began his professional activity in 2001, concurrently with high school studies. His career started with the studio children's TV series "Amin and Mina" (directed by Karim Sarbakhsh), where Gabour served as set decorator and creator of visual space for the puppet section.(Animation and Film Production Experience)2016: Director, storyboard designer, and sand art executor – 90-episode_3 seasons, sand photo-novel series "Path of Life" (broadcast on Iran Channel 8). is the first narrative series created with the sand technique in the world.
2016: Director and storyboard designer – 30-episode wordless musical series "Life in Submission" (broadcast on Iran Channel 8).
2010-2011: Character designer, space designer, and 2D title creator – stop-motion animation "Goat and Kid" (winner of Honorary Diploma for Best TV Production, 7th Tehran International Animation Festival).
2016: Storyboard and character designer – "Kod Khoda" series (producer: Mehri Sarkheil).(Management Experience)
2008-2018: Board member and graphics department manager – Bayat Brothers Cultural-Artistic Institute.(Success in Digital Art and NFT)Market In October 2021, Gabour's art collection "Animal Wrld" (painted with finger touch on mobile) ranked among the top three best-selling albums of the month on OpenSea, with one piece purchased by the renowned collector Cozomo de' Medici (Snoop Dogg).(Teaching Experience)2022 (Montreal): Art instructor at Saint-Henri Library (Bibliothèque Saint-Henri) for children of language learners at Centre Saint-Paul.
2007: Character design instructor at Kanoon (workshop with master Abdullah Alimorad).
2002 & 2004: Instructor at Tehran Animation House and Youth Cultural Center.
Instructor at Bayat Brothers Cultural-Artistic Institute.(Exhibitions and Live Performances)2025: "Gabour’s Galaxy" – Solo conceptual event in Montreal on the theme "Between Worlds" – display of works and live sand performance.
2023-2024: Qualified for the final stage in two rounds of Art Battle Montreal – live acrylic painting performances.
2024: "The Little Prince" performance – live narrative sand art in Montreal for the launch of a new translation.(Eera Art Café – Montreal)
2023: Solo exhibition at Casa Italia Gallery – combination of sand art and Mixed Media (acrylic, ink, pastel) with live sand performance.
2023: Live sand art performance at Khordadgan Festival – narrative of the mythical Zahak from Shahnameh.(Concordia University, St, Petersburg Auditorium)
2022: "Voice of Iran" – live sand art and acrylic performance in Montreal in support of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement.(Centre culturel Georges-Vanier)
