Pitch To Canvas
With La Liga, Premier League, and the Serie A season coming to a start, I wanted to write about art that deals with the worldwide sport of soccer/football/fútbol/futebol/calcio.
Detail from Penny Siopis' “We call it Madiba Magic", 2017. (Courtesy of the artist and Stevenson Gallery)Years ago the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) put on an exhibition based on the wonderful sport of soccer titled “The World’s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art”. I can’t give my full and honest opinion on the exhibition in its entirety because I never actually went to it despite living in Miami, but what I can say is, I’m glad it happened. One piece I found interesting while doing my google search on the exhibition was We call it Madiba Magic by Penny Siopis. This work was created during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Being from and living in South Africa, Penny observed people at the games wearing and selling repurposed hardhats that were made into wearable, sculptural forms, identifying national teams, clubs, and players. These helmets are called ‘Makarabas’. When the FIFA governing body became aware of the makarabas, they banned the sale of them in and around the stadiums due to copyright/trademark infringement. Penny decided to acquire some makarabas. Out of the collected makarabas, Penny created We call it Madiba Magic. The piece has multiple motives; First, to show how fuckin cool makarabas are, but also to bring up the conversation on how the FIFA World Cup is expected to be benefitial for the hosting country, while in actuality, certain aspects are impaired. The title also alludes to Nelson Mandela, using the name “Madiba” in the title, which allows for a complex dialogue on the reoccurring foreign interferences and political/legal tribulations in South Africa, as well as the entire continent of Africa.
Detail from Penny Siopis' “We call it Madiba Magic", 2017 (Image courtesy of Worldredeye)One piece pertaining to the world wide sport I had the pleasure to see in person a couple years ago at MoMA was a painting from the futurist painter Umberto Boccioni titled Dynamism of a Soccer Player. I’m not onboard with the Italian futurist ideals expressed in their 1909 manifesto (though I do find their thoughts on libraries and museums interesting); I am a fan of italo-futurist paintings.
As usual in Italian futurist paintings, the piece is vibrating with kinetic energy, has multiple light sources, and rapid, slow-motion movement.
Umberto Boccioni, “Dynanism of a Soccer Player”, 1913 (Photo from my trip to N.Y. in 2023)Arms, legs and fractured light in a chaotically contained composition. It’s an exciting painting.
This piece makes me curious as to what regional team Umberto Boccioni was a fan of.
There are hundreds of teams, too many leagues to count, and multiple cups/competitions per league and country, but sometimes certain players stand out from the rest. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known simply as “Pelé, is regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game. He was an international superstar, especially after his legendary world cup win with the Brazilian national squad in the late 1950s. Andy Warhol, the ultimate fanboy of famous people, created multiple Pelé portraits. I don’t think Andy Warhols work was always meant to be anything but something nice to look at. It’s novelty more than anything. Conceptually, his process comments on capitalism and certain aspects regarding mass advertising, but the portrait of Pelé is just Pelé, and I like it.
Andy Warhol, "Pelé", 1977I recently had a conversation with two artists that also have a love for soccer. We spoke about teams, players, and the upcoming world cup, but the conversation led to something very interesting; the importance of artists being physically active. A person who usually releases or expresses energy through painting or sculpting might find playing a sport will help release another type of energy or expression not found in the art-making process. Playing a sport might also benefit your artwork. Try it out.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOooooooooaaaaaLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
V.N
