Citius. Altius. Fortius.

These works are a homage to Jasper Johns target paintings (1955-65), and combine a juxtaposition of two famed Olympians, along with the year and location in which they competed. The five rings have been applied within this target motif. Each artwork is painted directly onto marine ply board; these originally used to ring fence the London 2012 Olympic Park site during its construction.

BOB. EMIL

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Bob Beamon. USA. Gold medal. Mexico City 1968. Long jump. Emil Zátopek. Czechoslovakia. Gold medal. Helsinki 1952. 5,000 & 10,000 metres, Marathon.

FANNY. JOHNNY.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians:Fanny Blankers-Koen. Holland. London 1948. 100 & 200 metres, 80 metres hurles, 4 x 100 metres relay. Johnny Weismuller. USA. Gold medal. Paris 1924. 100 & 400 metres freestyle, 4 x 200 metres freestyle.

br> FLO. DAVID.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Florence Griffith-Joyner. USA. Gold medal. Seoul 1988. 100 metres & 200 metres, 4 x 100 metres relay. David Hemery. UK. Gold medal. Mexico City 1968. 400 metres hurdles.

GREG. VERA.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Greg Louganis. USA. Gold medal. Seoul 1988. Diving. Věra Čáslavská. Czechoslovakia. Gold medals. Mexico City 1968. Gymnastics.

NADIA. MARK.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Nadia Comăneci. Romania. Gold medals. Montreal 1976. Gymnastics. Mark Spitz. USA. 7 gold medals. Munich 1972. Swimming.

OLGA. AL.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Olga Korbut. Belarus. Gold medal. Munich 1972. Gymnastics. Alfred Oerter. USA. Gold medal. Tokyo 1964. Discus.

PAT. JESSE.

55 x 40 x 1.8cm
Acrylic, collage, pen, oil pastel on marine plywood.
Olympians: Pat McCormick. USA. Gold medal. Helsinki 1952. Diving. Jesse Owens. USA. Gold medal. Berlin 1936. 100 & 200 metres, 4 x 100 relay, long jump.

All artwork, text and images © James Straffon 2024.