The Olympians

Since boyhood, the whole idea of sport has enthralled me. The images it has conjured have been poetic: the deft movement, the intercept, the stamina, the passion. These are images of speed, dexterity and strategy. Equally interesting in the extreme loyalty that sport can instil in its fans.

While I work, I listen to the sport on the radio. I know other artists who do this too. Some people believe that music helps them to think but for me it's the sound of sport commentary that helps my concentration. Just like any athlete, art making requires long, lonely hours of solitary work and sometimes it is only the excitement and tension of an excellent game that can lift the mundanity of the work.

Few artists have made commentary on sport in their work. To many people, sport is seen as an anti-intellectual activity and the antithesis of art making. Yet sport and art share a similar ethos. Both are highly competitive and require concentration, agility and stamina. As in any field of excellence, both require a gruelling professionalism and personal sacrifice.

— Anthony Davies