I like this Lynette K. Stephenson painting from the Rochester Biennial at the MAG. Great paint handling and a mysterious, confrontational pose. I liked Richard Hirsch’s “Paintings of Nothing” too. They look like big, heavy slabs of clay hanging on the wall but are encaustic, clay, minerals and dry pigment on foam.
I thought about art quite a bit during the World Cup. It was full of surprises for starters. We got stuck on certain teams and then had to admit their opponent was better just as you do when you’re constructing a painting. We changed allegiances in the middle of a few matches and went in exactly the opposite direction. The marvelous, master craftsman, artistry of Messi and Neymar of course. The announcer, Ian Darke‘s” colorful play by play was peppered with literary, artistic phrases. He could almost be describing a painting as it unfolds. “Lovely ball, brilliant touch.”
But mostly I am struck by the exhilerating composition of the game, the way players move into space in order to advance the ball. They draw my eye as they try to get open. They draw players to them when they have the ball and create more openings. It is very fluid at all times and the entire pitch is involved in the composition the way a painter must keep the entire canvas in mind with every stroke.
And how about this whole concept of minimal art, maximum bang from minimal means. 120 minutes in the World Cup final with only one goal! I thought about Peggi’s childhood friend and her husband who had a heart attack at a Detroit Red Wing game. His doctor told him he couldn’t watch hockey games anymore. You have to keep things in perspective. Brazil taught the world the beautiful game, rate futbol, and now it belongs to us.
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Great sports writing. I was glued to the final even though, by American standards, ‘nothing’ was happening. Just watching Messi’s few breakouts was amazing even though they did not result in goals. I felt like I was starting to get it just a little bit.
It is so fluid and 45 minutes of constant action changes the way you absorb a sporting performance. American football, in contrast, averages around 12 minutes of actual play for the entire game. I guess it suits a limited attention span but that is more likely driven by marketing. It’s fake atheletism.