The Art of Sports

There is a whole world of sports out there and I am merely an observing alien. I can’t even do a cartwheel to save my life. I never would have guessed that there were so many athletes becoming artists or so many artists thinking about sports. As someone who grew up thinking sports and the arts are competitive polar opposites, my universe has flipped upside down. Here are just a few artists who use sports as a topic of conversation.

     In his piece, “The Cotton Bowl”, Hank William Thomas explores the history between slavery and the monetization of modern sports as a farm laborer and a football player face off in similar poses. During American Slavery black bodies were branded as a sign of ownership and a way for the slave owners to make money. In the modern day era, sports companies have glossed over Black history as Black athletes wear logos as a type of branding and for the sports conglomerates to make money. Thomas believes his artwork has the power to help Black athletes reclaim their identity.

     Carling Jackson was a professional soccer player from Vancouver, BC, Canada. When chronic injuries sidelined her career she slid into her second passion, painting. Carling has since used her artwork to fight injustices around the world. She has used her artwork for organizations like Save the Children, War Child and the United Nations. She has also painted over 200 commissions for other famous athletes and 18 leagues around the world.

     Jonas Wood is an interior landscape artist and tennis fan. Wood paints tennis courts to explore colour theory and geometric abstraction. Wood enjoys painting spaces he is familiar with and paints his memory of them. The result is a painting that is part cubist with its various collage-like planes and part photographic due to its relatable familiarity.

     Neil Eckersley is a 1984 British Olympic bronze medalist in the sport of Judo. He has always painted as a way to escape the difficulties of his dyslexia as well as the death of his brother. Although Eckersley has painted many commissions for the International Olympic and Judo Committees, his latest body of work is about his father’s struggle with dementia. Eckersley is hoping this new artistic path will spark conversations about dementia and encourage earlier diagnosis.

     Pelle Cass is a photographer from Massachusetts. He photographs high speed composites of various sports events. He returns to his studio and his computer and superimposes all the athletes into one photo. Cass never invents. He photographs exactly what he sees when he puts the images together; he doesn't move the superimposed action figures to create a better design. The result is a lively and truthful spectacle revealing the athletes speed and strength and the chaos of hundreds of pieces of sports equipment in moments of competition.