Július, Gyula: Ricardo Soarez Series 1 (A Rosary for the Benfica) (1999)

Gyula Július (b. 1958 in Budapest) exhibited his works under a variety of pseudonyms when he took on the identities of Portuguese guest artists for a show in the Budapest Galéria's space on Lajos Street in 1999. The works shown there were created during a fellowship to Lisbon. One of his alter egos, Ricardo Soares, is a world-renowned goaltender for the Portuguese national football team, and this identity offers a guide to interpreting the work, a painting-like object that is otherwise a typical Július. Subtitled A Rosary for Benfica, the composition of charcoal sticks and strings resembles a football playing field on which the stocky little groups of three represent the goal and the goalkeeper, the thin charcoal sticks portray a bird's-eye view of the players, and the string that winds through the field evokes passes of the ball. The various colors and surfaces are born of the physical, chemical reaction of the materials used, and often continue to “work” long after the painting is finished.