The life of an Olympic Games security officer is certainly a varied one. Few other security officers would have to double as life models for a piece of art.
But this was the situation that some of the workers from the Olympic Park in Stratford found themselves in last summer as artist in residence at the construction site, Neville Gabie, recreated a famous piece of art for modern times.
Struck by the similarlity in design between the new Olympic site and the scene from Seurat’s classic piece Bathers in Asnie`res, painted in 1843, Gabie gathered workers from across the site – including former policemen who are now working for security contractors G4S, construction workers, and even an architect – to recreate it for 2012.
Christopher Riopelle, curator of post-1800 paintings at the National Gallery, where Seurat’s piece is displayed, was suitably impressed by Gabie’s interpretation.
“In his iconic image, Seurat showed how the modern industrial landscape was coming to shape our lives some 130 years ago. Neville Gabie reinterprets Seurat for a post-industrial age. He shows us beauty and natural harmony in what might have seemed the most unlikely place.”
The picture was released at the end of January as part of the cultural Olympiad, and is currently on show at View Tube, a viewing platform opposite the Olympic Park.
Neville Gabie was artist in residence for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) from October 2010 to January 9 2012, when the site was officially handed over to Olympic Games organisers LOCOG.
