Four contemporary painters – Tim Okamura, Jerome Lagarrigue, Taha Clayton and Joseph Adolphe – were in the center ring recently at “Round Zero,” a sports-inspired fine art exhibition on display May 13 through 17 at the Art Director’s Club in Manhattan.

The works in Round Zero were inspired by the sport of boxing.

“Each of these four artists enter Round Zero with his own history and deeply personal relationship to the exhibition’s primary theme of boxing,” said Wimberly. “However, this is not a showcase of sports art, but rather a primal, atavistic presentation of figurative painting, steeped in pain and sacrifice, celebrating the durability and upper limits of the human body.”

Curated by Dexter Wimberly, the exhibition featured live performance, an open bar and artworks created by the students of Brotherhood/Sister Sol during  May 15 reception. Sales of the students’ work raised funds for the Harlem-based youth organization.

The four-day show was the culmination of “HEAVYWEIGHTPAINT,” a documentary film project by filmmaker and former amateur boxer Jeff Martini that followed the artists as they plan and executed their Round Zero artworks.

For information, visit www.heavyweightpaint.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS: (Source Hayden Roger Celestin)

Round Zero artists (l. to r.) Tim Okamura, Joseph Adolphe, Taha Clayton and Jerome Lagarrigue.

Joseph Adolphe, a professor of Fine Arts at St. John’s University in Queens, stands by his contribution to the Round Zero show. Self-taught emerging artist Taha Clayton (below), a big force in Round Zero, comes from Houston but, now, lives in Brooklyn.

Round Zero artwork and the artist – Canadian Tim Okamura, who lives and works in Brooklyn.

Jerome Lagarrigue, who was raised in Paris, poses with his Round Zero art work.