The work, developed by Factory International, is co-curated by former Manchester United and Spain national team player Juan Mata.
In Manchester, a city steeped in football history and colorful memories for Inter, a timeless Nerazzurri legend has found a home. The figure of Sandro Mazzola has crossed the English Channel and in the English city has become a genuine installation designed by the studio of Stefano Boeri, an archistar with proven Inter allegiance. The work bears a highly descriptive name, `The Playmaker`: it refers to Mazzola`s leadership and brilliant inventiveness, simultaneously a forward and a playmaker, an artist ahead of his time. He was a unique point of reference, both for his teammates in the Grande Inter, twice European and World champions, and for the National team, with whom he won the 1968 European Championship and reached the final at the 1970 Mexico World Cup. Specifically, the work is composed of three different cylindrical modules, resembling miniature football fields: on the ground, graphic patterns created by Mexican artist Eduardo Terrazas, and walls with circular holes evoking goals. Besides connecting the spaces, they invite visitors to test themselves and play: from a path, the work thus becomes an interactive challenge. Here you can kick the ball, inspired by the legendary `Sandrino`, now 82 years old and a historical memory of the legendary team coached by `the Sorcerer` Herrera: whether recreating his old goals or creating new ones, it matters little. Only the immersion and the blending between the two worlds count. “Sandro Mazzola was one of the myths of my childhood and adolescence. Extremely fast, unpredictable, technical, he combined the vision of a playmaker and the determination of a forward. The tribute to Mazzola is a tribute to an `architect of football,` capable of anticipating the movements of others with a sprint,” commented Boeri.
THE FEATURED WORK
`The Playmaker` was created for the `Manchester International Festival` and is part of the exhibition called `Football City, Art United`. It is co-curated, among others, by former United and Spain national team player, Juan Mata, and is developed by Factory International, a project involving 11 artists and 11 world-renowned footballers with the goal of fostering dialogue between art and football without absurd barriers. The installation by Studio Boeri Architetti, the featured work of the exhibition visible until August 24th at the Aviva Studios in Manchester, is placed at the center of the exhibition space, but is also surrounded by the ten signed by artists and footballers, including Edgar Davids, another former Nerazzurri player, albeit briefly, after seven seasons at Juve, and Eric Cantona, one of the greatest legends in Red Devils history. When a pure champion is involved, art and the ball chase each other and become the same universal language: anyone who, like Boeri, saw Sandrino Mazzola play up close knows this well.
