It’s the official Paris Olympics poster by French illustrator Ugo Gattoni, whose work is characterized by surrealist, detailed worlds.
The Paris Olympics is turning out to be a showcase of the French capital’s beloved landmarks and culture. And we’re loving it!
Paris is known for its art, and since the City of Light can’t give away the artworks inside the Louvre as gifts to winning Olympians, they’re giving them a copy of the Olympic poster by French surrealist and modern illustrator Ugo Gattoni.
The posters were unveiled last March at Musée d’Orsay. It’s actually a tradition dating back to the Stockholm Games in 1912 and “every Organising Committee has highlighted its symbols through them” since.
Gattoni created two versions. The first one, called “Stadium City,” depicts a fantasy city that also serves as a gigantic stadium with Paris’ monuments, including the Eiffel Tower, Patrouille de France, Paris Metro, River Seine, and the Arc de Triomphe; Olympic venues; and several sporting events such as breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing; and crowd sketches.
The second is a poster for the Paralympic Games, which Paris is hosting from August 28 to September 8 or three weeks after the Olympics closes on August 11.
“I wanted to tell the story of Paris 2024,” Joachim Roncin, director of design at Paris 2024, tells Olympics.com, “so that there would be an overview of the entire project, to take sport out of the sporting arenas.”
Roncin met with Gattoni in June last year. “I immediately had an idea,” the artist says. “I came home here to the studio and I already had the stadium in mind on my journey back. I wanted to make a Paris stadium. I had even already made a first sketch.”
After 2,000 hours of working on the posters, Gattoni finished them. It’s not his first work related to the Olympics. Gattoni’s Bicycle book-slash-poster was inspired by the 2012 London Olympics. It depicts an intricate gigantic cycle race through the streets of England’s capital.
Published by Nobrow as part of its popular Leporello series, Bicycle is a detailed illustration that totals over six feet in length. “As the reader’s eyes travel alongside Bicycle‘s speeding cyclists, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary contest.” Gattoni drew cycle couriers, commuters, bankers, delivery boys, moms with kids, and hipsters riding their bikes.
The book features an embossed wrap-around jacket that’s beautifully printed and can be displayed as an “Olympic-sized work of art.”
Expansive scale
Ugo Gattoni is a French artist known for his intricately detailed works that blend surrealism, fantasy, and reality. His art, characterized by its meticulous precision and expansive scale, depicts worlds where the boundaries between the mundane and the fantastical blur, offering a glimpse into the depth of his imagination.
He grew up in the suburbs of Paris, where his early exposure to urban landscapes and the bustling energy of the city influenced his style. He was fascinated by architecture, intricate details, and the absurdities of modern life, which can be traced back to his childhood, where he often spent hours sketching buildings and daydreaming about imaginary worlds.
He has said that he draws inspiration from surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí and Hieronymus Bosch, as well as contemporary illustrators such as Jean Giraud (Moebius). His work also reflects a deep appreciation for the precision and complexity of technical drawing, a skill that would become a hallmark of his career.
Gattoni’s style is instantly recognizable due to its intricate line work, expansive compositions, and surreal subject matter. He often employs a monochromatic palette, using black ink on white paper to create dense, detailed images that require close examination to fully appreciate. His works are large in scale, sometimes sprawling across meters of paper, which allows him to explore minute details that might be lost in smaller formats.
Gattoni has also collaborated with numerous brands and institutions such as Hermes, Rolex, Nike, and Nissan, where his surreal and detailed approach has been used to create striking advertising campaigns and illustrations.
Now, more than 10,000 athletes are getting to know his work as they take it home along with their Olympic medals. As far as keepsakes are concerned, this is one for the books.
