These days, as the FIFA World Cup 2018 is being held in Russia, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) presents the exhibition The World´s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art, which draws attention to one of the common language with the highest international appeal.
“The topic of football has been approached universally by contemporary artist for a long time”, Franklin Sirmans maintains, director of PAMM and curator of the show. “A lot of them engage in the game as a way establishing common ground between people from all over the world.”
The World´s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art explores the relation between art and football departing from the question/interrogation: How do artists reflect on the implications of football in society?
Some of the artists included in the exhibition are Miguel Calderón, Lyndon Barrois Jr., Stephen Dean, Kehinde Wiley, Vik Muniz, Antoni Muntadas, Wendy White, Andy Warhol and Espoir Kennedy, all of whose works focus on the phenomenon of fans and media idols. For example, the 90-minute video by Miguel Calderón which opens the exhibition, Mexico vs. Brazil (2004), transmits an imaginary game in which Mexico defeats Brazil by 17 to 0. Composed as a collection of match scenes between the two countries, Calderón highlights the moment of the goal, as the “most extravagant fan fantasy”. The video installation by Stephen Dean, Volta (2002-2003), continues this proposal, documenting the colorful visual landscape generated by a huge flag held by spectators in the stadium. Meanwhile, the portrait by Kehinde Wiley represents Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o, who holds a record in being awarded the African Player of the Year trophy four consecutive times.