Archives for posts with tag: soccer art
On the weekend, I went to an exhibit of work by an artist named Lafrance in Old Montreal. His works were intense abstract works with high pigment strokes pushing cooler colours into the background. As I looked closer, I noticed that most of his works had soft toned renderings of human figures in the background.
The exhibit inspired me to rework several of these works of medieval performers, although the brushstrokes I applied to my paintings are quite different, infusing energy and movement without eclipsing the original subjects…
Soccer Freefall #1
This drawing of bare-torsoed soccer players falling through space, is drawn in charcoal, red and white conté on a blue ground. The two elite players are able to maintain an upright position while the player wearing nondescript cut-off white pants is performing a bicycle kick-. There are very few truly revolutionary players who were born wearing the finest clothes….
I just read an interesting interview with Jerome Champagne, candidate for the post of FIFA president against Sepp Blatter. Champagne’s ideas about the need for more economic equality on every level in soccer, to create fairer competitions among countries, continents and national clubs is very appealing. Unfortunately, anyone running for a position in FIFA has to be careful using the word corruption. So Champagne maintains that FIFA is ethical but not transparent. While no revolutionary, Champagne’s ideas couldaddress some of the ridiculous imbalances of professional and international football(Will Bayern Munich ever come in lower than first place in the Bundesliga? Will African national teams ever have a real opportunity of practicing together when all of their players are in Europe or the Americas?)
Death Chasing a Calcio PLayer
How long can a professional soccer player continue his career? Even phenomenal players are vulnerable. Just Fontaine, the French player who marked a never beaten record of 13 goals in the World Cup competition of 1958, had his careeer ended early by a knee injury. So did Marco Van Basten, one of the great Dutch players of all time. Age and injury are always nipping at their heals.
The game was much more violent in the early 20th century when goalies were occasionally killed in collisions with attacking players. The predecessors of soccer: Soule in France, Mob Football in England and Calcio in Italy were even more dangerous. Death(manslaughter or murder) was never far from the playing fields.
When we look at soccer in today’s world, with all its flaws, clearly we have to appreciate the progress that has been made. The players are overtaxed by matches for club and country. Because of this they are more prone to injuries of wear and tear, but referees are much stricter than in the past and this is a good thing.
This drawing, charcoal and conté on a rust coloured ground was once again inspired by the preparatory drawings of Gustave Doré. The exhibition I saw in both Paris and Ottawa was awe-inspiring…
Galeano Tribute #2
This is the second in my series inspired both by Galeano’s classic book of essays and by a recent exhibition I saw on the drawings of Gustave Doré, France’s great 19th century illustrator.
Here a privileged player(let’s say from Juventus- think of the two fake penalties in a recent match) has the advantage over a player from a poorer team. But I’ll let you interpret how rich and poor conduct themselves in the Beautiful Game today…
eugeneabrams 