Free Olympic art fun at Cirencester's Corinium Museum (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Free Olympic art fun at Cirencester's Corinium Museum

4:29pm Thursday 26th July 2012 in News

A FREE Olympic exhibition will open at Cirencester’s Corinium Museum tomorrow.

To coincide with the official launch of the Olympic Games, Cirencester’s Corinium Museum will be staging an exhibition celebrating the art of sport and movement by a figurative artist of international repute.

‘The Olympic Art of Kevin Whitney’ is a celebration of the Olympic Games past and present and offers a retrospective look at sporting personalities and Olympians through the eyes of an artist who has been documenting the Games officially for 30 years.

Kevin was appointed to the role of Official Olympic Artist by the British Olympic Association in 1982, and has created works which forge the beauty of physical movement and art in a sporting arena.

Kevin said: “My art mirrors the artists of the ancient Greeks who have always been an inspiration to me. It was a pleasure to represent Great Britain at the 50th Anniversary of the International Olympic Academy held in Olympia this year and I am very much looking forward to London 2012 and documenting the graceful form of the world’s greatest athletes once more.”

Much of Kevin’s work is dedicated to the physical attributes of the athletic form but also incorporates classical elements inspired by the architecture of Greece - the homeland of the Olympic Games - and the many beautiful and awe inspiring opening ceremonies which culminate in the all important lighting of the Olympic torch.

The exhibition will run in conjunction with the Olympics and for a short time afterwards, opening officially on July 27 and closing on August 31, and will be complemented by 3D works of art, showcasing the beautiful ceramics of Jitka Palmer and patriotic mosaics by Jo Moreman.

The exhibition has been kindly sponsored by the Friends of the Corinium Museum and the Cotswold Museums Trust, without whom it would not have been possible.

A series of children’s activities linked to the exhibition and to Greek and Roman culture will also take place in the Museum and in Cirencester Bingham Library during the summer holidays.

The Museum is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 2-5pm on Sundays and entry to the exhibition is free.