2012Commission

Painting the London 2012 Olympics

In 2012 Paul was commissioned to create a series of artworks for the London Olympic Games: a milestone that set his work on the path it still follows today.

2 min read

Paul Kenton’s painting London Glory: the 2012 Olympic Stadium in black, white and grey, under a sky of long vertical paint drips, with a red line of buildings and the London skyline beyond — London Glory, 2012

In 2012 Paul was commissioned by the OHC to develop a selection of artworks for the London Olympic Games. It was a milestone moment in Paul’s growing career that earned him visibility in the contemporary space, and shifted his work onto the path that has led to the present day.

The integration of drips and liquid textures with the form and structure of the iconic London stadium and skyline is highly telling of Paul’s current work. Though his work has certainly evolved, those roots are clearly visible today. The DNA of past projects and milestones lives on, with Paul now creating many more scenes of London and the wider world.

Black-and-white still of Paul Kenton in the studio sweeping a long brush of black paint across the top of a huge canvas, the stadium sketched beneath — Paul starting London Glory in the studio

The finished London Glory canvas propped on bricks against a stone wall outdoors

Paul Kenton in a hard hat and high-visibility vest standing beside London Glory on a balcony, with the real Olympic Stadium behind him — On site at the Olympic Park

The early development of his abstract sensibility is clear in these pieces.

It really became clear to me that I wanted to use a very minimal palette in a slightly abstract manner, but still defining what you could actually see.

Paul Kenton

That thought echoes through the years since. We still see its central philosophy in Paul’s work: loose interpretation, and a reliance on energy and emotion to build a painting rather than on visual accuracy.

Through time, ideas like this have deepened and grown more complex in Paul’s painting. In many recent pieces his confidence in translating the emotion and character of a city is only growing, and the visceral nature of much of his current work comes from these earlier pieces and the lessons in them.

Paul Kenton’s painting of the Olympic Park in grey and white drips, the red lattice of the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower rising in the centre and the stadium on the right

A man in a hard hat, safety glasses and high-visibility vest looking through binoculars across the Olympic Park — A site visit during the build

Paul Kenton’s painting Olympic Hope: five open rings made of fine, sweeping lines of blue, yellow, black, green and red paint on white — Olympic Hope

Close detail of Olympic Hope: crossing lines of yellow, green, red and blue paint with small splashes — Olympic Hope, detail

Olympic Hope on a wooden easel in front of an old stone wall

It is impossible to separate an artist from the depth and rigour of their process, and from how they have distilled their knowledge and matured over time.

Paul’s work is a clear example of this.

Paul Kenton’s painting Golden Energy: the Golden Gate Bridge in red lines and drips on white, reflected in water drawn in fine black lines — Golden Energy

Paul Kenton’s painting Low Pressure: swirling rings of fine red and black lines on a white canvas, hung on a white brick wall — Low Pressure

To see my paintings in situ, and to see the pleasure that people got from them, has been an amazing experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed painting them.

Paul Kenton