South African sculptor Keith Calder's 'Goalie' bronze - one of eleven in his 'Footballer' range'

FOOTBALL and art seem something of a misnomer, but for many the game of billions is the greatest art form of them all.
While Picasso, arguably the greatest painter that ever lived, used brush strokes to bring his masterpieces to life, Pele, the god of football, used his body movement to mesmerise and carve the opposition’s defence like a master sculptor.
The only difference between the two art forms is that with a painting, pleasure is derived at the end, while in football it is immediate. It gushes out in a palpable wave through the rhythmic sound of thousands of hearts beating in the stands.
It is this sentiment that prompted local art company, MMX Art, to buy a worldwide license to assemble and distribute fine art collections of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The company’s first exhibition held at Decorex in Cape Town in April, featured African-inspired works by England’s Peter Phillips, known as the Father of British Pop Art, the whimsical paintings of Kenyan-born Taju and inspired bronze sculptures of South Africa’s Keith Calder. The bulk will be exhibited to coincide with the 2010 Fifa World Cup draw which will be in Cape Town on December 4.

The second collection to be exhibited in 32 different cities around the world early next year, will feature 160 leading contemporary artists including Spain’s Eleazar, Argentina’s Pablo di Masso and Japan’s Kimi Sakaki.

“Art and sport have been linked from the start of recorded history. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the single biggest opportunity ever for Africa and South Africa to promote the richness and quality of our visual arts, ” says MMX Art General Manager Robert Spaull.

Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, once said that every good painter paints what he is. Anyone who has watched AC Milan’s Brazilian midfield maestro Kaka weave his magic will never dare disagree.

Even the great Pele couldn’t help but compare Ghanaian football protege Freddy Adu to Mozart. “His left foot is fantastic. It’s like Mozart. God gave Freddy the gift to play soccer.”

Algerian philosopher, Albert Camus, who played as goalkeeper for his university, went to great pains to try and make a link between football and philosophy, saying: “All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football.”

Others have even compared football to sex, saying it was like 90 minutes of foreplay, followed by two weeks of ‘Wow, that was almost good sex’. But that might be stretching the point.

From great sculptures of ancient Greece to classical paintings of artists such as Monet, Manet and Renoir, the history of art and sport is inextricably intertwined.

The three painters’ earlier repertoires included oils depicting sailing, rowing, canoeing and swimming.

And again, most of what is known today about ancient sports is through sculptures and paintings by artists of that time.

Spaull says art and sports have the power to unite and to inspire.

Jo-Anne Duggan of The Heritage Agency, agrees adding that art is able to capture those fleeting moments of triumph or defeat which would otherwise soon be forgotten.

“The ancient Greeks were prolific in their output of statues of sporting victors, which served both as commemorations and offerings to the gods,” she wrote in the 2010 FineArt newsletter.

The Olympic Games included an art event for almost 50 years before it was discontinued in 1948 because it was not a crowd puller.

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 saw the return of art to the games.

“The encouragement of a symbiotic relationship between these two disciplines has meant that the beauty of sport has been captured in ways, varied and captivating, that words or documentary video footage cannot,” says Duggan.

Sport, in return, has granted the arts diverse subject matter and a platform from which to showcase work, she says.

While art is about capturing moments, sport is about creating them. Even that great French football magician, Zinedine Zidane, attested to the fact that he couldn’t remember some of his greatest moments on the field.

He once told film producers who were making a movie based on his life: “The game, the event, is not necessarily experienced or remembered in ‘real time’. My memories of games and events are fragmented. I remember playing in another place, at another time, when something amazing happened.”

That is where art comes to the rescue.

Kenyan Josiah Waiguru Gitau, better known as the artist Taju, says: “It’s a really big opportunity for African artists like myself – and it’s a really great thing that this company has found a way to use the World Cup to benefit African art. For years we have heard how massive an opportunity the World Cup will be not just for South Africa but for all of Africa – we are really happy to be part of a project that is making that a reality.”

Craig Mark, managing director of 2010 Fine Art, a subsidiary of MMX Art, and himself a gallery owner in KwaZulu-Natal, says he believes the 2010 African Fine Art ranges will be highly sought after.

“There has never been art of this calibre offered in relation to a FIFA World Cup. The Collection is still being assembled and will have something for everyone’s tastes. We are appealing to African artists and gallery owners who would like to get involved to contact us as soon as possible,” says Mark.

South African artists already on board include Gavin Rain who has produced some amazing works of neo-pointillism with images hidden within other images. Bheki Khambule’s paintings of the host stadiums and Welcome Danca’s rich portraits of soccer in the streets, also add flair to the art buffet.

“In its eighty year history the FIFA World Cup has evolved into so much more than simply the most-watched sporting event on Earth. It has become a global symbol of excellence, bridging divides and uniting people around the world in a shared passion for the event. In 2010 it becomes even greater – with the first African FIFA World Cup,” says Spaull.

It was Waldyr Pereira, the Brazilian midfielder better known as Didi, who first coined the term “football – the beautiful game”.

And the beautiful game has evolved into a game of billions that is truly art in motion.

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