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London 2012 artworks : Anthea Hamilton creates narrative environments through sculptural assemblage and collage. Her work is in part informed by the history of physical prowess and representations of the human, especially female, body. Her poster is titled "Divers". -
London 2012 artworks : Bob and Roberta Smith use the immediacy of language to create hand-painted signs on pieces of found wood. These signs — painted in the style of community action banners, street signs, and fun-fair posters — relay direct and often humorous messages. -
London 2012 artworks : Taking the values of the Paralympic Games as a starting point, Bob and Roberta Smith propose the core elements of the athletic experience: courage, inspiration, love, and of course sweat. -
London 2012 artworks : Bridget Riley, one of the most original painters of our time, is celebrated for her optically vibrant paintings. Her Olympic print, "Rose Rose" uses arranged colours in horizontal stripes, indicating the direction of athletic tracks or swimming lanes. -
London 2012 artworks : Chris Ofili's "For the Unknown Runner" features a figure, somewhere between super-athlete and mythical being, sprinting past a watching crowd. The figure is framed by a vase motif — a reference to the Ancient Olympic Games. -
London 2012 artworks : Fiona Banner's "Superhuman Nude" is a nude study of a Paralympic athlete. The title alludes to the extraordinary physicality of this body. She focuses on strength and physicality but also on the fragility of a human awaiting competition. -
London 2012 artworks : Fiona Banner creates nude studies from life, transcribing physical scenarios into verbal descriptions. These "wordscapes" define the shapes and forms of the body as well as fleeting moments. -
London 2012 artworks : Gary Hune's "Capital" is made up of abstracted elements from an image of a wheelchair-tennis player, combined with foliage and a soft and subtle colour palette. -
London 2012 artworks : Howard Hodgkin describes his paintings as representational pictures of emotional situations. -
London 2012 artworks : Hodgkin's "Swimming" is a swirling mass of blue across the page. In the darkest area of colour the outline of a figure as if pushing off from a tumble turn can be made out. The fluidity of the brushstrokes perfectly captures the movement of water. -
London 2012 artworks : For "Work No.1273", Martin Creed made five single brush marks using a palette derived from the Olympic colours. The marks are arranged in an ascending form that seems to represent an extended podium offering places beyond first, second and third. -
London 2012 artworks : Michael Craig-Martin combines quotidian objects such as light bulbs, chairs, and umbrellas with everyday words. His pairing of language and image is based on both familiar and unexpected associations. -
London 2012 artworks : In combining the word "go" with a stopwatch Craig-Martin conveys with a sense of immediacy the excitement and anticipation experienced in the moments before the starter pistol is fired, and the roar of the crowd as they encourage their favourite athlete. -
London 2012 artworks : Rachel Whiteread's LOndOn 2O12 sees overlapping rings in the Olympic colours. The rings explore the emblem of the Olympic Games, and also represent marks left by drinking bottles or glasses. They act as memories of a social gathering like the Olympics. -
London 2012 artworks : Since the mid-1990s Sarah Morris has been creating complex, geometric, abstract paintings derived from cityscapes and architectural detail, origami patterns, and signs and symbols. -
London 2012 artworks : To celebrate the Paralympic Games in London, Morris created an abstract representation of one of the city’s most iconic landmarks — Big Ben. The grids and vivid colours create a sense of dynamism and also evoke images of athletic tracks. -
London 2012 artworks : Tracey Emin shares her life, beliefs and feelings through her work with compassion and wit. Emin took the Paralympic values of inspiration and determination as the starting point for her print and created what she describes as love letters. -
London 2012 artworks : Emin's poster sees two small birds, delicately perched on branches, appearing to kiss beneath the words "You inspire me with your determination and I love you". The Paralympic agitos float below them like feathers or leaves falling from the tree.
The official posters for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games in London were unveiled last Friday and feature contributions from a cross-section of some of the UK’s most highly regarded artists. Critics are nonetheless questioning whether these designs truly represent the best of British creativity.
The reaction is perhaps unsurprising and speaks to a conundrum that will no doubt rear its head in any situation where a finite number of creatives are tasked with defining the visual identity of a much larger entity – in this case a nation of millions. The same thing happened with the selection of poster artwork, logos, and mascot for the FIFA World Cup 2010, and we’re willing to bet that similar impasses will continue to define public unveilings of official artwork for national events. And rightly so. There are few occasions when art and design infiltrate the public consciousness as widely as they do for mega-events like the World Cup or Olympic Games; where the average person has the right to weigh in on matters of aesthetics and identity. But considering that many design critics are designers themselves, one is probably justified in questioning whether any outcry stems from genuine national interest or simply the acrid taste of sour grapes.
Perhaps the most telling creative decision by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was to employ the services of reputable artists, as opposed to graphic designers. The poster, after all, does occupy an almost sacred echelon in the pantheon of graphic design.
According to LOCOG, “The primary objective of the panel was artistic excellence and some of the UK’s greatest artists have been commissioned (four of the chosen artists have previously won the Turner Prize and five have represented the UK at the Venice Biennale). The brief for the artists encouraged them to celebrate the Games coming to London and to look at the values of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Each image is a distinct interpretation of either the Olympic or Paralympic Games by the individual artists and the diversity of the series demonstrates the extraordinary creative talent that exists within the UK.”
Nevertheless, some of the comments gleaned from design blog Dezeen reflect the tepid response to the selection:
“Commissioning 12 of London’s leading graphic designers would seen (sic) a better result.”
“I am lost for words… not in a good way!”
“None of them are (sic) impressive.”
We feel that GraphiteSquare hits the nail on the head, albeit somewhat diplomatically:
“All in all it gives a fairly accurate depiction of the diversity of British artists. This for me is their strength. Luckily they’re not to everyone’s taste and will create lots of debate. Good, better than being predictable!”
