Steven Dennis Painting Chosen for National Art Museum of Sport Exhibit
INDIANAPOLIS—Contador, a painting by Steven Dennis, an artist in Chicago, Illinois has been selected by a jury for inclusion in the Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport exhibit at the National Art Museum of Sport at University Place on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The exhibit, which includes 50 sport paintings, sculptures and photographs will run until April 20, 2011. They were selected in a global competition for sports artists conducted by the Museum. There were entries from over twenty-six states and six countries with more than fifty-seven sports or sports related subjects represented.
This image depicts Alberto Contador, the three time Tour De France champion, in time trial action. The viewer can sense Contador’s speed through the blurred strokes and his hunched, intense pose.
Welsh by birth, Chicago cycling artist, Steve Dennis, has lived in the US since 2004. A racing cyclist himself he turned to the sport as a subject for his art as he portrays the spirit, emotion and essence of cycling. He uses liquid ink and a drawing stick or Japanese calligraphy brush to portray the movement and speed of cycling.
Founded in 1959 in New York City by the late Germain G. Glidden, a portrait artist and national squash champion, the National Art Museum of Sport holds one of the nation’s largest collections of art depicting sport. Over 40 sports are represented in the over 900 paintings, sculptures and works on paper in the collection. Among the artists in the collection are Ogden Pliessner, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Joe Brown, Ray Ellis, James Fiorentino and Alfred Boucher.
The Museum’s first home was in Madison Square Garden in New York. It has been in Indianapolis, “Amateur Sport Capital of the World,” since 1990.
The Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport fine art competition and exhibit support the Museum’s two-pronged mission to encourage sports artists in their efforts to create sport art and to collect, preserve and share the best examples of sports art it can acquire.
The National Art Museum of Sport at 850 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, is open free to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. week days. For group tours and weekend hours, call 317.274.3627 or e-mail ecvarner@iupui.edu; more information at www.namos.iupui.edu.
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