I also owe a lot to football and it’s something I’m always willing to discuss, play or watch. It’s even more appropriate to discuss today and even into the summer. In a matter of hours, over in Moscow, the Champions League Final kicks off featuring an all-English match up of Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC (I’m rooting for Man U). In a matter of a few weeks (17 days to be exact), the European Championships begin, sadly without England, but I’ll be rooting for the Orange Crush (that would be the Dutch National Team) and glued to every game I can catch on TV.
Every two years I become transfixed with the World Cup or Euro Championships – and it is heaven. I remember beautiful goals as if they were works of art and the players that create them (Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Zidane) like artists – but I excitedly digress and this is where I bring this post back to planet art museum. With all this football on my mind, I decided to research contemporary works of art and artists influenced by or featuring this sport.

Here’s what I found:

Local artist Artur Silva is pretty cool and not because I can have a conversation about Gordon Banks with him. Artur is Brazilian which means he has the luxury of supporting some of the best teams in the history of the game. I remember watching the 2002 World Cup game between England and Brazil in a bar as Brazilian fans samba’d around me celebrating their victory. It was painful loss for an England fan, but it really opened my eyes to the beauty of Brazilian soccer. Around the same time, I came across this piece by Artur Silva and it brought back so many memories of Pele, the game, the history. So thank you to Artur for that.

I’ve written about it before, but I don’t mind beating a dead horse. Zinedine Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is an impressive cinematic work of art that depicts the beautiful game and one of the games greatest players ever, Zizou. Directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, it features stunning camera work (all 17 of them), a mesmerizing soundtrack by Mogwai and clever, thoughtful editing. Do whatever you can to find this video.

Fellow blogger Phillip sent this link to me ages ago and I went nuts. German artist Susken Rosenthal creates individual portraits of specific football matches by sketching and tracking the ball movement in real time. The result is similar to that of a seismographic drawing. To someone not familiar with soccer, it may not make sense. To me it’s a work of art.

And in short -

Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco not only plays soccer but has also depicted it in some of his work. Check it out here.

Here’s an interesting piece by Brian Jungen that synthesizes Nike silver soccer balls made to resemble lava rock.

Turkish artist Omer Ali Kazma created a video installation on Turkish team, Galatasaray featuring footage from over 8 months of work. I would love to see this somehow. Can anyone help me out?

And that’s all I’ve got…for now. If you’ve made it this far and want to contribute any recommendations for contemporary artists and football, please leave me a comment.

In the meantime, enjoy this Maradona goal scored against England in the 1986 World Cup. Painful for me to watch, but quite possibly a work of art.

The good news is that the list of IMA bloggers will be expanding in the next couple of weeks. That means you won’t have to rely on my posts for your exciting look into the world of an art museum. Soon you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives, including conservation, curatorial, education and horticulture. I’ll still talk about technology, new media, art content and soccer, but I’m afraid you may have to wait a little longer. My apologies in advance.

Speaking of new bloggers, we are also working on the concept of Guest Bloggers. Yes, we are talking about people like Jay Z, Banksy, Jessica Alba, Jared the Subway Guy and other big names. I doubt we’ll get any of these celebs, but we are thinking creatively about who could be a guest blogger.

The fact is, it could be you, it could be an artist, actor, musician, race car driver, skydiver, chef and so on. Everyone is connected to art in some way, and blogging with the IMA would allow others to communicate that.

So really think about this concept. Would you blog for the IMA? If so, let us know. Who should blog for the IMA? We would love to hear your suggestions.

I’ve thought a lot about this. Someone like Jay Z would be an incredible addition to the list of IMA bloggers – but I’m not sure how likely that is. I mulled and mulled and random people started popping into my head. I’ve listed a few of them below, and in each case I tried to pick people with good web resources, so you could also learn about them. Drum roll please…

Volzy: He’s German, plays professional soccer in London, rides around on a fold up bike, LOVES David Hasselhoff and provides a listing of German phrases everyone should know, such as – Wo kann ich mir meine VokuHila Frisur blondieren lassen? (Where can I get my mullet highlighted?), as well as important facts, such as – in no other country will more X-rays be done than in Germany. I would love to hear who is his favorite artist is.

Douglas Coupland: Artist, author, blogger, Canadian, producer and more. Microserfs remains one of my all-time favorite books, and it’s been fascinating to watch Coupland evolve as an artist since his 90’s release of Generation X. His analysis of pop culture is astounding, so who wouldn’t want to hear his opinions on art, art museums, and artists? I would. He also loves Lego. And so do I.

Patrick Smith: pilot, author and contributor to salon.com. I love planes, airports and flying. His book, Ask the Pilot is packed with interesting facts, humor and opinions on airline liveries and logos. He’s traveled all over the world – he must have visited some museums, right? Although, he recently visited 15 countries in 21 days, traveling 45,000 miles without stepping foot outside. Well, he might be able to tell us how to get that ‘free’ first class upgrade. Who’s going to argue with that?

Jillian Lewis: Alright, I’m busted. I watch Project Runway and I’m rooting for Jillian. She’s talented, stylish, articulate, to-the-point and not afraid to express her opinion. Sounds like a blogger to me, but can she take Bryant Park? My thoughts might also be influenced by an upcoming fashion exhibition, Breaking the Mode, and the site that just launched. And hey, it wouldn’t be an IMA blog post without a Facebook reference – so join the Jillian Fan Club here.

I could keep going here, but as I have in the past, I’m going to the leave door wide open for you to comment…