Idrottsmosaik (Sports Mosaic)

About thirty oil paintings of varying sizes with varying motifs from the world of sports have been joined together into a larger collage. Templates are images that have appeared in a major morning newspaper's sports coverage. Several different sports and eras are included in the material. Here is the high jumper who sails over the crossbar and the ball that slides into the goal.

But it's not just about achievements and victory intoxication. The everyday situations with training, changing rooms and the team's cohesion are also depicted. The dedicated Tre Kronor fan next to the pitch with Viking horns and the Swedish flag painted all over his face also gets its place here.

Oil paintings with different athletes.
Oil painting showing man on sports field and a picture next to it showing gym.
Oil paintings with different athletes.

We see physical and mental exertion: clashes, graceful jumps and precisely measured movements. Perseverance and quick, explosive decisions. The moment just before and just after, absolute focus and the emotions of the spectators. Artist Filippa Arrias has joined together over thirty moments from sports’ myriads of shapes, elements and moods. The work is entitled Sports Mosaic, but it is not a mosaic of stone or glass bits, but instead a series of joined oil paintings.

The images were modelled after photographs in the sports pages of Dagens Nyheter, but the newspaper’s black-and-white images have been interpreted in colour in the oil paintings. The preparatory work became a careful study of sports journalism. Which sports are most represented? Is it women, men or children who are photographed?

In her selection of images, Arrias wanted to reflect something of Örebro’s sports history and her image of sports is composite and complex. It can be just as much about lactic acid and a fighting spirit as about the star status of top athletes, the development of sports into a sensationalized entertainment industry, team solidarity or the supporters’ emotional ties to their home team.

What we see in the images likely depends just as much on ourselves and our own experiences with sports. In the middle of the mosaic, Arrias has sneaked in a link between the world of sports and her own life: the little boy in the Brazil team jersey is her son.

When the Idrottshuset sports facility was inaugurated in 1946, it offered space for tennis, gymnastics and bowling, and now you can play basketball, floorball, volleyball or handball here. Which sports do you like? Can you find any of your favourites among the pictures?

Filippa Arrias was born in 1971 and studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. In addition to her independent work as an artist, she has also taught and conducted artistic research at the same school.

Konstverk: Idrottsmosaik (Sports Mosaic)

Konstnär: Filippa Arrias

År: 2014

Material: Oil on canvas, MDF boards, oak frame.

Placering: Idrottshuset

Ägare: Örebro Municipality

Konstverkets position på karta

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