SUPPORT US
SUPPORT US

THE OLYMPISM ART GENRE.

By ROALD BRADSTOCK "THE OLYMPIC PICASSO"

THE OLYMPISM ART GENRE.

By ROALD BRADSTOCK "THE OLYMPIC PICASSO"

Arne Roald Bradstock

is a two-time Olympic javelin thrower, three-time Olympic artist, and Executive Director of Art of the Olympians. He competed for Great Britain at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and has built a rare dual career at the highest level of both sport and art.

Often referred to as the “Olympic Picasso,” Bradstock is credited with founding the Olympism Art Genre, a visual art movement that captures the energy, values, and ideals of the Olympic Movement through fine art. Over a sporting career spanning more than fifty years, he competed in over 750 competitions and threw more than six million times. His hand-painted, brightly colored competition uniforms transformed the javelin runway into a form of performance art, generating global attention and millions of views on social media.

In 2000, Bradstock won the United States Olympic Committee Sport Art Competition in the painting division with Struggle for Perfection, an Olympic rings–themed work that was later exhibited at the International Olympic Committee Museum in Lausanne as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games cultural program. Since then, his artwork, exhibitions, and educational programs have focused on exploring the connection between sport and art while visually promoting Olympic values around the world.

Arne Roald Bradstock

is a two-time Olympic javelin thrower, three-time Olympic artist, and Executive Director of Art of the Olympians. He competed for Great Britain at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and has built a rare dual career at the highest level of both sport and art.

Often referred to as the “Olympic Picasso,” Bradstock is credited with founding the Olympism Art Genre, a visual art movement that captures the energy, values, and ideals of the Olympic Movement through fine art. Over a sporting career spanning more than fifty years, he competed in over 750 competitions and threw more than six million times. His hand-painted, brightly colored competition uniforms transformed the javelin runway into a form of performance art, generating global attention and millions of views on social media.

In 2000, Bradstock won the United States Olympic Committee Sport Art Competition in the painting division with Struggle for Perfection, an Olympic rings–themed work that was later exhibited at the International Olympic Committee Museum in Lausanne as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games cultural program. Since then, his artwork, exhibitions, and educational programs have focused on exploring the connection between sport and art while visually promoting Olympic values around the world.

LA RISING TOGETHER

Olympic artist Roald Bradstock made history at the 2025 ArtPrize festival with the debut of the world’s first exhibition dedicated to the emerging “Olympism Art Genre”, highlighted by an ambitious, community-built artwork titled “LA Rising Together”.

Bradstock, who lived in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1992 while training and coaching at UCLA, was deeply affected by the 2025 LA wildfires. With close ties to the region, he turned to art as a way to transform anxiety into action.

“I felt helpless watching it happen from a distance,” Bradstock said. “Creating this work became a way to turn something destructive into something meaningful.”

The original work, “LA Rising”, is a massive 10-panel charcoal drawing created over three months. Bradstock chose charcoal (burned wood) on paper (wood pulp) as a literal and symbolic reference to fire, loss, and regeneration.
At its center is the iconic Olympic 5-ring symbol, encircled by 2,028 rings representing the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Installed as the signature piece of the exhibition, the artwork became a participatory installation during the 17-day festival. More than 1,000 visitors from across the Grand Rapids community added colored-pencil markings to the dark charcoal surface, symbolically adding light, color, and hope.

The completed work renamed “LA Rising Together,” embodies the principles of the Olympism Art Genre: unity, creativity, participation, and social connection through sport.

“This piece represents one community reaching out to another,” Bradstock said. “It became a message of support from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles.”

“LA Rising Together” stands as both a landmark in Bradstock’s career and a milestone in the development of the Olympism Art Genre, a movement merging sport, art, and community engagement.

 

LA RISING TOGETHER

Olympic artist Roald Bradstock made history at the 2025 ArtPrize festival with the debut of the world’s first exhibition dedicated to the emerging “Olympism Art Genre”, highlighted by an ambitious, community-built artwork titled “LA Rising Together”.

Bradstock, who lived in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1992 while training and coaching at UCLA, was deeply affected by the 2025 LA wildfires. With close ties to the region, he turned to art as a way to transform anxiety into action.

“I felt helpless watching it happen from a distance,” Bradstock said. “Creating this work became a way to turn something destructive into something meaningful.”

The original work, “LA Rising”, is a massive 10-panel charcoal drawing created over three months. Bradstock chose charcoal (burned wood) on paper (wood pulp) as a literal and symbolic reference to fire, loss, and regeneration.
At its center is the iconic Olympic 5-ring symbol, encircled by 2,028 rings representing the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Installed as the signature piece of the exhibition, the artwork became a participatory installation during the 17-day festival. More than 1,000 visitors from across the Grand Rapids community added colored-pencil markings to the dark charcoal surface, symbolically adding light, color, and hope.

The completed work renamed “LA Rising Together,” embodies the principles of the Olympism Art Genre: unity, creativity, participation, and social connection through sport.

“This piece represents one community reaching out to another,” Bradstock said. “It became a message of support from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles.”

“LA Rising Together” stands as both a landmark in Bradstock’s career and a milestone in the development of the Olympism Art Genre, a movement merging sport, art, and community engagement.

 

MORE FROM THE OLYMPIC RING SERIES

MORE FROM THE OLYMPIC RING SERIES