Teresa Witz
Teresa Witz is a portrait painter of modern icons, from celebrities to athletes to sporting figures. A year after achieving her Doctorate in Fine Art, she was appointed one of the official Olympic artists for the London 2012 Games.
For the Games, Teresa produced 10 highly detailed life-sized paintings portraying Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The original oil paintings, completed over three years, were produced after long lengths of time spent with the individual athletes, in order for the artist to capture their personalities, physical presence and approaches to competing. She met them, travelled around the country to watch and sketch them in training, and the athletes then visited her studio in east London.
These paintings were shown around Britain in the run up to the Games and were then at the T5 Gallery. Copies of the paintings were produced for a special outside installation over the entire duration of the Olympics. They were exhibited throughout Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf – one of London's main social hubs for enjoying the Games.