Mike, Jeremy, Pat, Max and me playing table-tennis in Mike’s shed

In a global culture, where fragmentation, fluidity and conflict are the norm, artists are fascinated by the bonds built by sport. Community sport promises human scale, social contact and local meaning. Richard Lewer's paintings chart his own experience of such communities; the organizing committee of his boxing club, an informal weekly table-tennis competition among fellow artists, and family pilgrimages to rugby games. Although Lewer declares that his personal mantra 'skill, discipline, training' applies to both art and sport, there is more to this than the metaphorical equivalence between the struggles of the artist and the athlete. For Lewer, belonging to the art world (a community in itself and not always an easy one to live in) is based on lessons learned from sport. Training is essential. Competition is tough but can be friendly. Relationships sustain the individual. You have to recognize the support the community has given you and put back in.