London 2012

Olympic poster design

Published 21 May 2012

Alumna Rachel Whiteread, who graduated from the University of Brighton in 1985, has been chosen as one of the artists of the official posters for the London 2012 Olympics. While Rachel Whiteread is best known for her sculptural work, drawing has always remained a critical part of her practice. Rachel’s poster will join those by some of the UK’s leading artists to be displayed at Tate Britain as part of the London 2012 festival.

For her print, Rachel has composed a pattern of overlapping rings in the Olympic colours. The rings explore the emblem of the Olympic Games, and also represent marks left by drinking bottles or glasses. They act as memories of a social gathering, such as the athletes in the stadium during the opening ceremony or the spectators of the Olympic Games.

Since 1912 every city hosting the Olympics has commissioned a series of posters by the leading artists of the day. Andy Warhol, RB Kitaj, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Josef Albers, Oskar Kokoschka, Allen Jones and Max Bill are among those who have created posters in the past.

LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) worked with Tate and the Plus Tate Group (a group of 19 regional galleries across the UK), who together compiled a long list of over 100 artists for consideration. This long list was then reduced to a final list of 12 by a panel comprising Nicholas Serota (Tate Director), Tamsin Dillon (Head of Art on the Underground), Judith Nesbitt (Tate – Head of National/International Initiatives), Carl Freedman (Counter Editions) Ruth Mackenzie (Director, Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival) and Greg Nugent (LOCOG Director of Brand and Marketing).

The images are available to buy as both posters and limited edition prints. Full details on the posters, limited edition prints and free exhibition at Tate Britain can be found on the London 2012 Festival website.