As Copa America and the EUROS draw to a close, the sports world now descends on Paris for the Olympic Games. A number of galleries across the French capital have joined in on the festivities, from Gagosian’s spotlight on the competition’s art history to a new exhibition fielded by Almine Rech.
Housed at Almine Rech’s rue de Turenne flagship, Sport and Beyond comprises of new and existing works by American artists Jeff Koons, Laurie Simmons and Hank Willis Thomas. Known best for his shiny balloon sculptures, Jeff Koons presents a new entry in his Gazing Balls series, the latest work featuring a reclining male nude balancing 11 chromatic orbs that rest over and around the figure’s body. Inspired by the Borghese Gladiator (110 BCE) sculpture in the Louvre museum, Koons conflates past and present by showcasing manufactured artifacts that simultaneously reflect on antiquity and the visitor walking throughout the space.
Laurie Simmons revisits an earlier photographic series of swimming ballet dancers, but in her new work, she employs text-based AI prompts using DALL—E and Stable Diffusion to create several images that blend reality with fantasy. One of the resulting works depict a row of swimmers wearing floral caps, which is “corrected” by the New York-based artist using hand-appliqué additions.
Since the days of the Roman Colosseum, sports has shown to be a vivid reflection of the socio-economic structures of society. Hank Willis Thomas is acutely aware of this and has used his multi-disciplinary practice to investigate themes related to consumerism, community and identity. Thomas’ Endless Column III (2017) comprises of nine stacked soccer balls painted in a chameleon hue that changes with the viewer’s movement. “The work, erect like a totem,” wrote art critic Charles Barachon, “highlights the collective and combative spirit of sport, athletic heroism and victory, as well as the aesthetic and social issues that pop culture brings with it.”
Sport and Beyond will be on view in Paris until August 17, while the 2024 Paris Olympic Games commence from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Almine Rech
64 Rue de Turenne,
75003 Paris, France
