The art of football

12 December 2022

3 Min Read

12 December 2022

Turner Prize-nominated artist Mark Titchner has taken over OOF Gallery at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
By Alice Kemp-Habib

The Art of the Football Scarf. Credit: Tottenham Hotspur FC, OOF Gallery

A new exhibition celebrating football fandom has opened at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Running at OOF Gallery until 26th February 2023, It’s The Hope That Keeps Us Here features new work from the Turner Prize-nominated artist Mark Titchner.

Titchner is best known for his colourful billboard imagery, emblazoned with bold phrases. Londoners, for example, may remember the slogan ‘Please Believe These Days Will Pass’ popping up around the capital during the Covid19 pandemic in 2020.

The free-to-enter immersive exhibition at OOF aims to capture the highs and lows of football fandom, with crowd noises being pumped through speakers as visitors make their way through the gallery. Glistening mirrors, video installations and largescale murals are adorned with phrases like ‘be strong in small things’ and ‘never glorify your weakness’ to capture passion for the game. The disappointment of defeat is likewise captured in slogans like in ‘you have failed utterly’ and ‘envy the success of others’ (both of which feel particularly pertinent following England’s World Cup loss).

Titchner said: “Football is such a big thing. It’s a big part of how we frame life. It fills some space, it fills some kind of need. It’s part of our national consciousness. It’s part of who I am.”

In November, Titchner became the first artist to have work displayed at a Premier League match when a piece from the OOF exhibition – We Believe in Us – was shown during Tottenham’s 4–3 clash against Leeds United.

The gallery’s co-director Justin Hammond said: “A simple, heartfelt message f lashed up on multiple screens in front of 60,000 highly emotional football fans. Later that evening, it was beamed into the homes of millions more. Beautiful.”

OOF is a biannual magazine that looks at the relationship between art and football. In 2021, it took over Warmington House, a Grade 2 listed building on the grounds of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to create a contemporary art gallery exploring those same themes.

Reflecting on November’s Tottenham-Leeds United match, Hammond said: “I’ll be straight with you – we had a bit of a moment because it achieved what we set out to do when we started the magazine five years ago. It brought our two worlds together.

“It smashed up perceived boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. And it felt amazing. Because it’s not just about Spurs or Leeds, and it’s not even just about football. It’s life, it’s universal. We’re all in this together. We believe in us.”

Parallel to Titchner’s exhibition, OOF Gallery is running a group show dedicated to football scarves, for which hundreds of contemporary artists (including David Shrigley, Guerrilla Girls and Babak Ganjei) have contributed a unique design.

It’s The Hope That Keeps Us Here and The Art Of The Football Scarf are running at OOF Gallery on Tottenham High Road until 26th February, 2023.

For more information, visit oofgallery.com

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