A collection of specially commissioned images by twelve of the UK’s leading artists to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been unveiled. The artists are:
- Fiona Banner
- Michael Craig-Martin
- Martin Creed
- Tracey Emin
- Anthea Hamilton
- Howard Hodgkin
- Gary Hume
- Sarah Morris
- Chris Ofili
- Bridget Riley
- Bob and Roberta Smith
- Rachel Whiteread
The images will go on show at Tate Britain in a free exhibition as part of the London 2012 Festival in the summer of 2012, and members of the public will be able to buy copies of the images as both posters and limited edition prints. The images will also be featured as part of a high profile campaign to promote the London 2012 Games.
Since 1912 each Olympic host city has commissioned one or more posters to celebrate the hosting of the Games. Over the course of the last century, a body of iconic work has been created and previous artists who have created a poster include David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
The official posters of the Games are now themselves a special celebration of the meeting of art and sport over the last 100 years. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has sought to return to this artistic tradition, and has commissioned twelve of the UK’s leading artists to create images to celebrate London hosting the 2012 Games, six for the Olympic Games and six for the Paralympic Games.
