Their project ‘SCULPTURE AND SPORT: A CELEBRATION FOR 2012’ was inspired by Team GB’s performance at the Beijing Olympics and the home games of 2012. Thirty British sculptors have been commissioned to each create a sculpture based on an Olympic or Paralympic sport.
Limited bronze editions of the sculptures are for sale, with profits from the project going to the Youth Sport Trust and the British Paralympic Association, to support their life changing work with disadvantaged and disabled young people.
Deborah van der Beek was one of the first artists to be commissioned. She worked with and sketched some of the British athletes including Sam Weale, Freya Prentice and Katy Livingstone, who explained their sport and demonstrated technique. Deborah and was delighted to become part of the project;
“There had been a lot of talk about Art and the Olympics, but nothing was being done. Art at the Edge grasped the initiative and came up with a huge, bold plan that simply ignored all the wishy-washy shilly-shallying that was going on. I was really excited to be included.
When I discovered the five sports that made up the Modern Pentathlon I realised that this was the true heroic test. It encapsulates Ancient Greek ideals of a perfect all-round athlete – all the disciplines needed for battle - in a modern way. It’s very tough, and beautiful to watch.
I wanted my sculpture to embody the classical ideal of the all-round athlete so I used Leonardo’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man, which everyone knows. I added a pentagon, which exactly fits the circle and the man’s outstretched arms. The Pentagon, of course refers to the five disciplines.
I thought it would look strange to have someone trying to do everything at once. But I did want to show the madness of it all, so I’ve got this kind of wild horse leaping over his shoulder, and they’re both racing along. They’re quite sketchy, almost like a drawing, to keep the speediness of the subjects.
If you look close, there are tiny five-pointed stars sprinkled over the man. These are fossils, which I use frequently in my work. Apart from the five disciplines of pentathlon these can symbolise a number of things. I leave you to interpret for yourself…..”
Deborah’s Modern Pentathlon study and the other twenty nine bronze sculptures will be on exhibition at:
- The Ashmolean Museum Oxford, 19th March – 20th May,
- The Victoria Art Gallery Bath, 26th May – 1st July,
- The Oxo Tower Gallery London, 31st July – 13th August.
- For more information visit the project website at www.artattheedge.org
