After the film Zidane: a 21st-century Portrait, which features French soccer player Zinedine Zidane [created by Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon] premiered at the Herzog & De Meuron designed St. Jakob Park stadium in Basel was attended by at least 4,000 spectators, and Sam Taylor-Wood’s filmed portrait of David Beckham was commissioned for the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, we could have assumed that the florid marriage between art and soccer really reached its climax. Not yet. Puma, which has had artist John Armleder design bags for the company in the past and that is generally fully aware of “La force de l’art” has now commissioned artist Kehinde Wiley. Wiley will make four original works that will be inspired by three of Africa’s most respected soccer players: Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, John Mensah of Ghana and Emmanuel Eboué of Ivory Coast. Kehinde Wiley’s commission is a part of Puma’s 2010 World Cup campaign. The series, entitled “Legends of Unity” was premiered in Berlin on January 20 and will travel to Deitch Projects in New York on February 17th (accompanied by eco cocktails courtesy of VEEV.) Wiley’s works will travel on to Paris, London, Beijing, Milan, and will end in South Africa in June for the World Cup.
www.kehindewiley.com www.deitch.com | |  | | Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, 2005, Oil on canvas, 9 x 9 feet | | | | | | | | |
