Above It All 1983

Robert Peak's "Above It All" captures a pole vaulter suspended in mid-air with these sort of vibrant, fiery strokes. The whole scene feels like a fleeting moment, rendered with a sense of urgency and movement. The color palette here is intense, focusing on warm oranges and reds that give the piece a feeling of heat and energy. Peak’s application is pretty loose and gestural, giving the impression of speed and dynamism. Look at the way the crowd is suggested with just a few strokes, like a blur of faces and bodies. I'm drawn to the way Peak captures the tension and release of the athletic form. It reminds me a bit of Jenny Saville's figurative work, where the body is rendered with a raw, almost visceral energy, or maybe even some of Peter Doig's dreamlike and abstracted landscapes that seem to exist in a space between memory and imagination. Art, like sports, is about pushing boundaries and exploring new possibilities.