Art

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Big celebrations here at Sport as we landed one of the most prestigious awards in magazine land this week.

Our iconic Gazza cover was named the Cover of the Year at the PPA Awards, the Oscars of the magazine industry. And, because it was chosen for by the public, huge thanks to all of you who voted.

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There are few things we like more at Sport than a unique and original sporting print. After all, that poster we have of the tennis player scratching their bare bum can only take up one of the office walls for so long (especially because – weirdly – ours is of Jeremy Bates).

So it’s great to discover these snazzy posters from Berlin-based designer Rocco Malatesta, who has immortalised everyone from Michael Jordan to Diego Maradona to Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ 1968 Black Power salute in his sports prints.

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London 2012 gives us a chance to show off the best of British. Not in terms of athletes (we can just nab those from other nations), but in terms of design. This free Tate Britain exhibition features all of the Olympic and Paralympic posters for 2012, including eye-catching artwork from various Turner Prize winners.

From Thursday June 21, tate.org.uk.

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The Banff Mountain Film Festival arrives in London next week, bringing with it stunning wild landscapes, daring climbs and this man's (in image three) attempt to grow the world’s coolest facial hair (a contest Daley Thompson dominates to this day).

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A blur of boat boys paddling for their lives (image 1)… a filthy-looking foot (image 2)... and the world’s most over-crowded diving board (you work it out).

What connects these seemingly disparate shots, besides their mild sporting bent, is that they’ve each been shortlisted in the prestigious 2012 Sony World Photography Awards.

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Remember the joys of Scalextric? You’d spend hours perfecting your track layout, adding sweeping bends and long straights, then staging Grand Prix after Grand Prix on your living room floor, your childlike imagination filling in the roar of the engines, the noise of the crowd, and the rich tones of Murray Walker’s commentary.

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For a group that released just one quality album collectively (Enter the Wu-Tang, in 1993), New York rappers the Wu-Tang Clan really do have an enduring legacy.

Although perhaps the reason for these limited-edition Chapman Skateboards decks is that the sport of skateboarding – much like rap music – thrived in the urban underground before mainstream attention arrived in the 1990s. That, or the folk at Chapman fear being haunted by the ghost of the Ol’ Dirty Bastard and crafted these as a peace offering. Either way, they look superb.

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Arsenal and Manchester United have an explosive chemistry together. So, before their clash this weekend, now would seem the perfect time to show you the latest artwork from On a Six Pence.

The idea is to take the periodic table and adjust it to illustrate football history. The Science of Dreams (first image) tells the story of Man Utd, from gB to cR (we’ll let you work out which players they are) with appearances, goal stats and more.

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If we told you this book focuses on a new stamp collection (for the Isle of Man, no less), you’d probably cast your eyes heavenward and wonder what rancid barrel we were scraping now.

However, that’s before you knew that the stamps, and indeed the book itself, are designed by the stylish hand of Paul Smith in honour of the 2012 Olympics – and that the British design guru got involved because of his passion for cycling and friendship with Isle of Man native and pedaller supreme Mark Cavendish.

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The idea of Mike Tyson popping out of your wall and bearing down on you might sound like the kind of thing that would give Freddy Kruger nightmares, but it’s been turned into something spectacular by artist Steve Forde.

Creating this 3D image involves the careful placing of 1,600 individually hand-painted glass tubes to create a pixelated effect and an image that subtly alters depending on the angle from which you look at it.