gagosian brings sport-related works by christo, warhol & more to paris ahead of the olympics

gagosian celebrates the art of olympics at its paris gallery

Gagosian teams up with the Olympic Museum, to present The Art of the Olympics, a two-part group exhibition celebrating the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Held at rue de Castiglione, the show features a range of artworks delving into sport’s rich cultural, iconographic, social, and emotional tapestry. Among the works, visitors can find iconic pieces by Christo, Man Ray, Andy Warhol, Marc Newson, Takashi Murakami, and many more. Also on view is an array of rarely-seen memorabilia and artifacts from past editions of the Olympic Games. Together, the two parts of The Art of the Olympics celebrate the dynamic interplay between art and sport. 

CHRISTO, Running Fence (Project for Sonoma County and Marin County, California), 1974. graphite, charcoal, wax crayon, ball point pen ink, fabric, and staples, on cardboard 22 1/8 x 28 inches (56 x 71 cm) | image © Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, photo: Annik Wetter, courtesy Gagosian

between sports and art: from Andreas Gursky to christo

Among the emblematic works found at the Gagosian Paris (find more here) is Andreas Gursky’s Amsterdam, Arena I (2000) transforming a bustling football match into an abstract composition through a bird’s-eye view. Man Ray playfully imbues a soccer ball with a sense of mystery in Jeux Nocturnes (c. 1970), while Duane Hanson’s life-like sculpture Bodybuilder (1989-90) portrays a dedicated athlete in a state of deep focus. Jonas Wood’s Scholl Canyon (2005) reimagines a golf course as a vibrant abstract piece, and Christo’s drawing for Running Fence (1974) evokes the shared experience of a marathon. The repurposing of fabric from his famed Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (1961-2021) into tents for the Games further underscores his legacy. Additionally, the exhibition features works by renowned artists such as Keith Haring, Takashi Murakami, Marc Newson, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol, rounding out a comprehensive exploration of the intersection between sports and art.

ANDREAS GURSKY, Amsterdam, Arena I, 2000 (detail). diasec-mounted chromogenic print, in artist’s frame. framed: 109 1/8 x 81 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches (277 x 207 x 6.2 cm), edition of 6 | image © Andreas Gursky, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany, courtesy Gagosian

Olympic museum exhibits posters from past games

The second-floor gallery at rue de Ponthieu features a selection of posters drawn from the Olympic Museum (find more here), which were designed by internationally renowned artists to promote and commemorate previous editions of the Olympic Games. Among the highlights are David Hockney’s summery design for the 1972 Games in Munich, which features an image of an athlete diving into the undulating blue-and-green waters of a swimming pool; Robert Rauschenberg’s Star in Motion (1982), a fragmented photographic collage selected as the official poster for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles; Cy Twombly’s poster for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, which draws on the ancient origins of the games in a characteristic scrawl; and Rachel Whiteread’s playful abstract interpretation of the Olympic Games London 2012, which comprises a constellation of overlapping rings of bright colored paint. Other artists represented by specially commissioned graphics include Christo, Michael Craig-Martin, Tracey Emin, Howard Hodgkin, Roy Lichtenstein, Henry Moore, Nam June Paik, Park Seo-Bo, Pablo Picasso, James Rosenquist, Pierre Soulages, Andy Warhol, and Zao Wou-Ki.

The display at rue de Castiglione will be visible from the street twenty-four hours a day, while the whole exhibition will remain open to visitors for an extended period through the summer during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A portion of proceeds from sales will be donated to the Olympic Refuge Foundation, a nongovernmental organization founded in September 2017 by the International Olympic Committee and based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

RACHEL WHITEREAD, Rachel Whiteread’s poster for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, featuring “LOndOn 2O12” (2011) offset-printed poster 31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches (80 x 60 cm), Olympic Museum Collections, Lausanne, Switzerland | image © Rachel Whiteread photo: © International Olympic Committee. All rights reserved, courtesy Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland

TAKASHI MURAKAMI, Shooting Game: Landscape of My Youth, 2023. acrylic and glitter on canvas mounted on aluminum frame 53 1/8 x 51 1/8 inches (135 x 129.8 cm) | image ©︎ 2023 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. photo: Kei Okano, courtesy Gagosian

MARC NEWSON, Black Surfboard, 2017, aluminum 72 7/8 x 16 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches (185 x 41.5 x 14.5 cm) edition of 3 + 2 AP | image © Marc Newson, photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian

JONAS WOOD, Scholl Canyon, 2007. oil on canvas 88 x 48 inches (223.5 x 121.9 cm) | image © Jonas Wood, photo: Lucy Dawkins courtesy Gagosian

HOWARD HODGKIN, Howard Hodgkin’s poster for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, featuring ‘Swimming’ (2011) offset-printed poster 31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches (80 x 60 cm), Olympic Museum Collections, Lausanne, Switzerland

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, Robert Rauschenberg’s poster for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, featuring ‘Star in Motion’ (1982) offset-printed poster 24 1/4 x 35 7/8 inches (61.5 x 91 cm), Olympic Museum Collections, Lausanne, Switzerland | image © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / Adagp, Paris, 2024, photo: © International Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. courtesy Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland

project info: 

name: The Art of Olympics
organized by: Gagosian and the Olympic Museum
location: 9 Rue de Castiglione and 4 rue de Ponthieu, Paris, France
dates: June 6th – September 7th, 2024