Keating’s art of gold receives Olympic recognition

Irish artist John Keating has won a gold medal for a painting exalting the Olympic spirit.

His award-winning oil on canvas, Oriental Lilies, had been chosen for the European Section of the exhibition at the Olympic Fine Arts 2012.

His work was among some 500 contemporary works of art of the highest aesthetic and technical levels.

The exhibition was held at the Barbican Centre in London over the summer under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.

Mr Keating, who said he was delighted with his award, has described the opportunity to exhibit his work during the Olympic Games in London as a “massive career boost”.

He pointed out that artist Jack B Yeats won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics in 1924 for his painting The Liffey Swim.

Mr Keating, who has exhibited nationally and internationally for more than 25 years, was also one of the artists chosen to participate in the First Beijing International Biennale in China in Oct 2003.

The London exhibition, also known as the Art Olympic Games, was approved by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and supported by the China International Culture Association and Beijing Association for the promotion of Olympic Related Culture.

The theme for Olympic Fine Arts 2012 was The River Thames — The Great Wall — Embrace the World.

Mr Keating’s painting, Oriental Lilies, is an oil on canvas measuring 5ft by 4ft and shows hands holding a bunch of oriental lilies, with draping material in the background.

Mr Keating, originally from Co Tipperary, said the work was a depiction of man’s search for beauty and harmony despite his scarred history.

“The image is set against a fragmented canvas.

“I have been exploring the whole idea of the canvas as a three-dimensional low relief rather than a flat surface,” he explained.

Mr Keating has been invited to take part in the Olympic Water Cube Museum Exhibition, opening in Beijing next month, as one of 100 artists worldwide who have been selected for the exhibition.

Mr Keating is currently exhibiting in the fifth edition of the Biennale, titled Stemperando, showing 100 works on paper by 50 invited artists from Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

Around 50,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition, curated by the president of the National Institute of Contemporary Art in Italy during its seven- month tour of libraries in Turin, Cosenza and Rome.