Perhaps a better title for this might have been '...a question of sport...'. Of all the subjects that an artists may wish to tackle 'sport' is perhaps one of the most difficult. Why is this? Sport as we know it today has a chronology that almost mirrors that of Fox Talbot photography. They are both the children of Victorian England and have grown up as very easy bed fellows. We understand modern sports through the medium of photography. It defines what a sporting image is and even what sports is. Consider the last time you were exposed to a sporting image - most likely today when reading a news paper/visiting a news web site. Modern photography is sports to most people.
This posses a number of considerable problems for the non-photographic artist. Perhaps the greatest being one of originality. Just how do you create a prospective on 'sport' that is new fresh and not just a pastiche? This is very difficult. Of course another approach may well be not to be worried by this restriction and just produce art that is, in fact, a copy or 'homage' to sports photography. This is a legitimate approach providing the artist is aware of what they are doing.
So how did the exhibition tackle the problem of 'sports photography'? As usual with any exhibition of this type in mixed way. Some of the works for me fell into the pastiche category and so didn't really bring anything new to the understanding. Some works were very reminiscent of Olympic games commemoration stamps of the 1960's. This, in itself, is not a problem but it does tend to raise the question what is new? Some works through did bring a fresh perspective to the Art of Sport.
Susan R Sansome - She had three works in the exhibition. They were acrylics or silk screen prints of sports clothing. Each had a vibrancy and colour that brought the subject alive. There freshness made you feel summer was here. The use of colour was so much more potent than you would ever get in any photograph. This added to the vivid experience of the works.
Trevor Tanser - He had four acrylics exhibited based around sailing on Rutland Water. Of these only one caught my eye - an abstract called Sailing. This was again a powerful use of blue that gave the work a feeling for being out on the water, the rush of the water and spray in your face. Compared to this I found the other pieces not as successful.
Mikki Langley - Cricket at East Langton. This was a birds eye view of a cricket match. Its approach was stylistically different to a simple aerial photograph. The work contained details of the village itself as well as the cricket match. Again the vivid green of the cricket pitch dominated and drew the viewer into the oval as the small figures battled out their game.
Jenny Cook - She had four carvings on display but the one that caught my eye was titled ' Dad's team - Preston, 1927.' This was a carving based on what I assume was a team photograph taken in 1927 - no doubt her father was one of the people in the group. Whilst this was based on a photograph the carving gave the work a three dimensional life of its own. Once carved each of the characters were meticulously painted and looking on I felt almost there.
Bryan Organ - Painting of Martin Johnson 2004. This was a commissioned work for the Leicester Tigers of one of their greatest players. The painting itself dominated the exhibition in both its scale and content. Martin Johnson is a charismatic personality and this is well captured by the painting. The work will eventually have pride of place in the new Tigers stand being completed at the moment. The thing that drew me though wasn't the painting but the two accompanying pencil and crayon drawings which were studies of Johnson and part of the preliminary work. They show the detailed skills and approach of the artist, something I always find fascinating as they can say more about the artist's approach than the final work.
So what is my overall impression of the exhibition having had time to reflect? Mixed. However, I do suspect this has more to do with my thoughts on the relationship of Sports to Photography than any reflection on the skills and artist expression of the individuals exhibited. The exhibition is thought provoking and also inspiring which are all very positive things. It was just that some of the works, for me, didn't bring anything new to the 'Art of Sport'.
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