Those Olympic posters

Oh dear. The Olympics people have tried to reach out as part of their Cultural Legacy and have distributed a series of posters by top British artists. They're not popular, and neither were they likely to be. They've been commissioned from, in my opinion, artists chosen because they are Britain's most famous or successful artists. However the works themselves are in many cases obscure and have served only to alienate the casual viewer.



Howard Hodgkin and Bridget Riley have produced pieces which, if seen on canvas in a gallery, would be fine parts of their oeuvre, but which on a poster or postcard look like nothing at all. One Twitterer has compared Bridget Riley's piece to a dishcloth design, and thanks to Hodgkin's (above) Twitter is full of people reviving the phrase "a child of six could do it" for a new generation. As for Tracy Emin's effort, well she's not in the business of impressing non-art-lovers and this contribution won't change that.

It is a great shame that the curators of these posters have chosen big names over appropriate works. They have driven a wedge between the public and the art world when this could have been an opportunity to involve and to build bridges.

While I'm on the subject, my contributions to the Royal College of Art's RCA Secret exhibition go on show soon. Go along, try and buy me. You might end up with someone proper famous instead.