ART Central Gallery was the venue for a most interesting and witty talk by Dr Andrew Edgar on ‘The Relationship of Sport in Art’ to both Art Central FRIENDS members and non-members.
Dr Edgar is the reader in Philosophy at Cardiff University and he is very interested in the role of sport in defining not only art but also our social, cultural and religious life.
Starting with the Ancient Greeks and their love of sport, art and classical statues, which define the beauty of the human form – he likened many of the images to current ideas of the aesthetics of the human body in modern sporting contexts.
To illustrate his ideas he focussed on the many art movements over the last few centuries as well as images from Roman and Greek statues and Ming scrolls. Sport in the form of the original Olympiad was not only about shows of strength, speed and endurance but also religious practices as well as art and music.
They were shown lots of art images, both realistic as well as abstract, but all were inspired by sport - ranging from bull fighting to cycling and boxing to tennis and Dr Edgar pointed out formerly unnoticed details in some of these painting to illustrate his points.
Over the years, sport has become less about religion as it became defined by sets of rules and once the modern Olympics were formed, international rules had to be drawn up so everyone could compete on a level playing field.
In many ways sport has defined what modern man has become and for many, sport is now the new religion and fosters many aspects of life in 21st century from fashion to cars; from materials to architecture; from art to the way we live our lives.
Art Central FRIENDS, who hosted the talk, aims to support the Gallery as well as providing members with interesting talks throughout the year as well as social events too. FRIENDS are always pleased to have new members for the princely sum of £10 per annum and they invite new members to take a leaflet from Art Central Gallery (through the library on King Square) or contact the membership secretary at 31 St Nicholas Road, Barry, CF62 6QW.
The new year for them starts at the beginning of October.
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