Eric Cantona match tickets and Shinji Kagawa manga - footballer art exhibition revealed
Manchester United and world football stars team up with international artists for a huge new art exhibition premiering at this year's Manchester International Festival
A huge new exhibition will see Manchester United and world football stars creating new works of art after teaming up with renowned international artists.
Football City, Art United will see eye-catching collaborations including Man United legend Eric Cantona teaming up with British conceptual artist Ryan Gander to explore the effects of fame on players - which will include a unique ticket giveaway to every 100th visitor.
Their work Privileges of Hindsight is comprised of three distinct parts - one an automated spotlight that will randomly select and follow an audience member as they make their way through the exhibition, casting them in the isolating glare of celebrity.
The second will be a Cantona song, Le Temps Passe, translated into English from French, which will play at set intervals.
Fans of King Eric will also be delighted to hear the art event will also see a limited number of match tickets from Cantona’s final Premier League appearance for Manchester United at Old Trafford in 1997 handed out to every 100th visitor - each inscribed with a special message written by the footballer.
An image shared today from the exhibition shows one such ticket with the message: "Nostalgia is poison" inked on the back.
Elsewhere in the exhibition, fellow ex-United star Shinji Kagawa is collaborting with Japanese manga artist Chikyuu no Osakana Ponchan on illustrations that blend real moments from Kagawa’s life and career with moments of fantasy and shared history, exploring the mythology of the beautiful game.
Manchester United and England star Ella Toone is also involved, teaming up with Berlin and London-based artist collective Keiken to explore what football means to her.
Visitors will be invited to step onto a podium and ‘wear’ a large hanging mask inspired by Toone’s spirit animal, the Shetland pony.
When wearing the mask they will hear Toone discussing life on and off the pitch, including her thoughts on fate, connection, routine and the importance of self-reflecting as we go through changes in life.
The exhibition involves 11 pairings of internationally renowned artists and footballers for an ambitious exhibition as part of this year's Manchester International Festival 2025 (MIF25).
Together, they step into each other’s creative fields to explore what art and football can learn from each other. The exhibition will be at Aviva Studios from 4 July through to August 24.
A wall of vertical video screens will showcase the journeys that the artists and footballers have been on to create the work, offering audiences a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the exhibition.The project is co-curated by World Cup and Champions League winner Juan Mata, renowned curator and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist and curator, filmmaker and writer Josh Willdigg.
Other artists and footballers involved are Brazilian footballer Rai together with London-based artist Alvaro Barrington exploring their shared experiences of community in sport and the multi-faceted purposes it can serve. Their work is a large green felt banner that stretches between goalposts high in the gallery space, creating a sense of movement that celebrates the energy and dynamism of football.
American sculptor and video artist Paul Pfeiffer collaborates with Dutch ex-footballer and photographic artist Edgar Davids to create an installation that serves as the immersive entrance to the exhibition. The installation takes the form of a tunnel where sound, vibration and light transport visitors to the world between the locker room and the pitch.
The sound is drawn from a mix of recordings from the players’ point of view, including the roar of the crowd and different football chants. The installation takes inspiration from iconic stadiums like Milan's San Siro and explores the anticipation and adrenaline-rush of stepping onto the pitch, as well as the mental and emotional journey of individual football players.
Architect and urbanist Stefano Boeri and Italian footballer Sandro Mazzola invite visitors to take on the role of the footballer in The Playmaker. The duo is joined by multidisciplinary Mexican artist and architect Eduardo Terrazas, who collaborates by designing a new work for the floor of the work.
The interactive installation is made up of a constellation of pods, tunnels and holes inspired by Mazzola’s most iconic moves. Visitors are invited to take a shot to re-enact Mazzola’s career-defining goals or invent new ones - passing, shooting and weaving through the space as they choose.American artist and educator Suzanne Lacy teams up with Manchester City and Netherlands star Vivianne Miedema and Angel City FC and New Zealand captain Ali Riley to create a new short film exploring football’s complex relationship with gender.
Swiss Uruguayan artist Jill Mulleady draws on her memory of meeting football legend Diego Maradona to create an installation that recalls one of football’s most controversial and mythologised moments – La Mano de Dios (Hand of God), Maradona’s goal scored during the quarter final of the 1986 World Cup between Argentina and England.
Mulleady’s installation features a painting of Maradona and a holographic illusion of the footballer.
Philippe Parreno and Marco Perego will present a video game project inviting athletes and players worldwide to sketch floor plans of the homes, neighbourhoods, and spaces where they grew up.
These sketches will form a collective, fragmented archive from which seemingly incoherent words and narratives emerge. Video game players will navigate these spaces through unexpected sequences of words, experiencing them as echoes of previously played worlds.
In Manchester, Parreno and Perego will present the personal geography of Carlo Ancelotti, widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time, constructed from floor plans drawn by Ancelotti.
Mexican sculptor and fashion designer Bárbara Sánchez-Kane and Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos have created a flamboyant mascot named Brody. Drawing from Campos’ acrobatic playing style, self-designed neon kits, and off-field passion for surfing, Brody is both a tribute to and a celebration of the irreverent spirit and visual flamboyance of 1990s Mexican football.
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And British artist Rose Wylie collaborates with Arsenal and England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy in a creative relay between the football pitch and the studio. Wubben-Moy shares an image diary and behind-the-scenes photos from training, match days and daily life with Wylie, which are transformed into a series of vibrant paintings and drawings.Low Kee Hong, Creative Director of Factory International and MIF, said: “Football City, Art United brings together a full team of 11 pairings of footballers and artists.
"Sometimes playful, sometimes thought-provoking, in this exhibition Juan Mata, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Josh Willdigg have created a space for footballers and artists to get to know each others’ very unique worlds, and in doing so create new works that give audiences insight into both.”Former Manchester United star Juan Mata who is curating the exhibition said: "Working with Tino Seghal as part of Manchester International Festival 2023 was an incredible experience, and I wanted more footballers to have the chance to work with artists.
"The result is the work in this exciting group show. The worlds of football and art can both be beautiful, complicated and powerful; something that is explored through these collaborations. We can’t wait for people to experience Football Art, City United. a real collaboration of two worlds."
Tickets are available now, priced at £16.50 for adults, while children go free when with an accompanying adult.