TWIN artists famous for creating symbolic portraits of sporting heroes such as David Beckham and Mike Tyson have arrived in East Lancashire for a World Cup exhibition.

Rabrinda and Amrit Singh, 36, of Birkenhead, are exhibiting 12 of their contemporary reinterpretations of traditional Indian miniature paintings at the Mid Pennine Gallery, in Burnley, for the first time. The identical twins have created symbolic portraits of sports celebrities such as David Beckham, David Ginola, Mohammed Ali, Prince Naseem, Torvill and Dean and Mike Tyson.

Each picture looks at the changing nature of sport and sportsmanship and the influence of mass media and commercialism on them.

The free exhibition 'SPOrTLIGHT' opened this weekend and will run until Saturday, July 13, with each painting accompanied by a text panel explaining its significance.

The Singh twins responded to the national celebrations of the Commonwealth games to explore current perceptions about sport and they have also been commissioned to do a painting for the Games.

Amrit said: "We have done about 80 paintings which are framed and available for public viewing and they are quite evenly split between us because whenever we have the time to paint it's normally at the same time as each other.

"We knew this year was the Commonwealth Games and the year of culture and diversity and we are always looking to push the boundaries of what art is. One of the most interesting ways of getting people's attention is by linking it to international events and if we link sport with celebrities we have two large audiences. "

Rabrinda said: "We have looked at how sports personalities have transcended from the sport they are in, such as David Beckham who has gone from sport to a fashion icon and Mohammed Ali who took the fight out of the boxing ring on to the world stage to fight prejudice.

"The paintings are our observations of issues out there as seen in the media rather than our own personal views."

Schoolchildren from 15 schools in Burnley and Pendle will take part in workshops based on the exhibition, on Friday, June 21, to celebrate National Children's Arts Day.

North West Arts Board supported the research for this project and the exhibition has been grant-aided by Cultureshock, the Commonwealth Games North West Cultural Programme.