A ceaselessly ticking clock, sweat-drenched players, and howling crowds: Soccer is a game of extremes. A few minutes spent watching a heated match proves why it is the most popular sport on earth. Fans obsess over what most of the world calls football for its glorious display of the desire to win. The emotional complexities and the politics of competition and stardom make the game an attractive subject for artists as well. Footage from canonized matches and emblems associated with the game have been appropriated by artists to address various issues, some of them immediately traceable to the grass field and others transformed by artistic experimentation.
The IMAZ Foundation recently opened the fund-raising exhibition “Chapter One” at the Ideal Glass Atelier in New York, with 11 soccer ball sculptures by the likes of Dustin Yellin, José Duran, Ryan Schneider, and Diana Carla Rowe. While the show closed yesterday, the works have gone to a silent auction benefiting the construction of homes for single mothers in Quito, Ecuador. The project is realized in partnership with CAEMBA, a community-based organization working directly with local families.
Meanwhile, out on the streets of the five boroughs and parts of New Jersey, including the World Cup’s host venue MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, the arts-accessibility nonprofit ARTS 14C presents “The Art of the Game,” a suite of 23 larger-than-life soccer sculptures, commissioned from artists that include Katherine Bernhardt, Bony Ramirez, Eddie Martinez, and Fred Wilson, selected by a jury of museum professionals.
In the spirit of the game, we present seven notable artworks to appreciate in this summer of soccer.
