The Olympics are here! The Olympics are here! They are my favorite! I love the pomp and circumstance, the inspirational stories, the comeback kids, the fraction-of-a-second wins, the athletic bodies*, the national pride, the memes, the sick cellies, and heartbreaking losses. I love all of it!

In the spirit of worldwide camaraderie, I’d like to look at some art from countries this blog has not explored. Obviously, we have looked at tons of art from Europe since it is the world’s unofficial epicenter of art (historically speaking), and I live in the U.S., so we’ve had lots of posts on American art and artists because it’s been easily accessible. But what about… Peru? Trinidad and Tobago? Cameroon? Let’s look at some art from around the world!

Peru sent 35 athletes to compete in 17 sports for these Olympic games. So far they haven’t medaled. If this were the art Olympics, they definitely would have sent painter/sculptor Victor Delfin. If NBC did a backstory montage on him, they would surely mention that he was the youngest of eight children in a poverty-stricken family. At age 14, he earned a scholarship to an art school and the rest goes down in history. Delfin is best known for his sculpture in Lima: El Beso (The Kiss). Spice alert: It’s modeled after he and his wife!

Trinidad and Tobago have 13 men and 9 women competing in six different sports this year. They have yet to medal, but Tessa Alexander deserves a gold for her stunning artwork. I especially love her portraits. The way she uses watercolors makes me a little weepy. She incorporates her heritage into her work too, which I love. Something tells me she is keeping close tabs on how her countrymen and women are doing in Tokyo. Visit Tessa’s amazing website here.

Cameroon (it’s in Africa- I had to double check) has won six medals since they began participating in the summer games in 1964. (They also had a skier who went to Salt Lake City- I feel like Isaac Menyoli should get a shout-out for that!) This year they have 12 representatives in Tokyo. Angu Walters is the stunning A2W (Artist to Watch) in Cameroon. He uses tiny little shapes to put together the brightest, coolest artwork. His stuff reminds me of Pablo Picasso’s work… but I like it even better. Check his stuff out here.

I will be cheering for the U.S.A. in every single event, but if we’re not in the running, you can bet I’ll be rooting for these smaller countries. As for their art? I’m always cheering on the Worldwide Republic of Art.

*Oh, what? Like you’re not checking out those ultra-elite abs?!