Friday, December 26, 2014

World Cup '74 Portrait #212 (John Watkiss: Australia)




graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Post-Christmas Day & back on the drawing horse with a re-mediation of an image of John Watkiss, who was featured in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album, amongst the number of the 16-strong Australia selection (which thus provides the original source material for the drawing), but not the reduced 6-player representation pictured in Panini’s ’München 74’ publication (as mentioned previously, the FKS album affords equal weight to each of the featured nations, whereas Panini adopted a more ‘hierarchical’ approach from major to minor in terms of World Cup football history).

Watkiss was subsequently included in the official Australian squad for the Finals but was not picked to appear in any of their matches, & further research reveals he was another of the majority of the Socceroos’ squad to be non-native to Australia, in his case English-born.

To accompany the drawing process it was decided to give an LP a spin, &, with the subject being an Australian player, it seem most appropriate to plump for an analogue listen to the Triffids' 'Born Sandy Devotional', still mighty & magnificent after all these years (the disc was invested-in early in 1987, after being intrigued by the album's featuring in the Albums of the Year for 1986 in the festive edition of the NME, always an essential acquisition for such features. And what a year '86 was for fine albums, just looking at that list alone: 'The Queen is Dead', 'Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express', the 2 Costellos', the 2 Bad Seeds', & more besides, both within & outside of the NME's selection).

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