Sports and Art
While sports and art seem like very different activities, they are both basic forms of creative and human expression. As we gear up this year for the Olympics in Beijing, China, here are some ramblings about the Olympics and art, as well as a few contemporary sports artists who can also be considered fine artists.
Art As Olympic Event
Did you know that an art competition used to a part of the original Greek Olympic Games? It seems that ancient Greeks saw a connection between artists and athletes, as they believed that these two seemingly disparate groups represented the best of humanity. There were five Olympic medals given in the fields of architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. The art competitions were eliminated from receiving medals in the modern Olympic event in 1954, as it was determined that the Olympic artists were professional while the Olympic athletes were amateurs. The irony here is that none of the winners of the Olympic Games medals in these categories ever went on to make a large presence in the world of music or art. Historian Bernhard Kramer in his article, In Search of the Lost Champions of the Olympic Art Contests, suggests that the reason for this is that the already established professional artists were not allowed to compete. The theme of the artwork also seems to have been of a sports nature to tie into the Olympic Games. Sources: www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv12n2/johv12n2m.pdf www.askart.com/AskART/interest/Olympic_Artists_1.aspx?id=38 www.asama.org/collection/onlinetour/index.asp
Sports Art
The American Sport Art Museum and Archives is on the campus of the United States Sports Academy in Daphne Alabama. ASAMA was founded in 1984 and also understands the connection between athletic competition and artistic expression. The gallery preserves the performance and movement of man by creating an awareness of the role art plays in capturing our sports heroes and perpetuating their performances for posterity. Kevin-John Sports Art offers a wide variety of sports subject matter including NASCAR, NBA and the NFL. I like Kevin-Johns quirky croppings of famous sports faces as well as the fact that he uses pencil as his primary medium. Many sports artists work from photographs, Kevin-John is no exception but somehow his work seems to transcend the average artwork rendered from a photograph. Looking at the sports artwork of Ernie Barnes makes me think he studied with Thomas Hart Benton, the great American landscape and narrative painter. In an art subject matter where drawing the human figure is paramount, Barnes has it down with cool style and sensitive draftsmanship. Barnes was the official artist of the XXIII Olympiad at Los Angeles in 1984.
