Sport, meet Art. ESPN, meet Sky. - Sky
Today sees the launch of an incredible new collaboration between Sky, ESPN and four incomparable Kiwi creatives who showcase the sheer artistry of key sports in a campaign called The Art of Sport.
As the US Open kicks off Monday 30 August (EST meaning NZT 31 Aug), we’re about to see how Xoë Hall has imagined three athletes taking part in the Grand Slam live from the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City.
There’s a small glitch in the Matrix. While Xoë’s work profiles Serena ‘The G.O.A.T.’ Williams, alongside Ash Barty and Novak Djokovic in a pretty fierce representation of each player, Serena has sadly pulled out of the tournament at the last minute with a hamstring injury. We wish her a speedy recovery.
That is the drama and art of sport – you never know what is going to happen.
About the artist
Xoë Hall (Kāi tahu) is a painter based in the Wellington region. She is of Māori, Danish, Irish and English descent. Xoë exhibits her paintings worldwide and decorates streets and buildings of Aotearoa with her delightfully subversive murals. Legends, idols and worlds collide to create the unique hybrid which is Xoë's work.
Mark Trowill, Sky Sport Marketing Manager, says: “With our renewed relationship with ESPN we really wanted to do something different to help the awesome events and sport they offer stand out from the amazing slate we have on tap. Coming soon will be some amazing creative executions from Askew One/Elliot O’Donnell (UFC), t.wei (NBA) and Blair Sayer (NFL). All will be revealed as the events or competitions are about to launch.
“Sport is art, and the campaign we’ve developed with ESPN not only promotes the creativity and skill of the athletes who light up our screens, it highlights how artists are also inspired by sport. It has been fantastic to work with four incredible Kiwi creatives to bring this campaign to life.”
Xoë Hall says she was pretty stoked to work on the US Open for The Art of Sport.
“To represent what I saw as a super-human quality in these players, I had to do a deep dive into researching beyond any other job I have taken on. I watched interviews and games, witnessed struggles and victory, read articles and scandals, all to the soundtrack of Beyoncé's Lemonade album, and I ain’t sorry!"
To see how the Art of Sport campaign comes to life in moving pictures check out this link here.
The multi-media campaign is being delivered with the help of DDB Aotearoa and OMD and starts with the US Open, which commences Monday 30 August in the USA EST with coverage starting from NZT 4 am Tuesday 31 August and running throughout the day on ESPN / Sky through until Sep 13 NZT.