A Cubist Footballer?

Just as my Father always ensured I did upon meeting someone, Dave Merrell looked me in the eye and gripped my hand firmly, exuding an unassuming but self-assured confidence.

Born and bred in Flixton, Manchester he reminded me of a PE teacher I once had at school, a brilliant footballer whose unreliable knee put paid to his professional career.

Given the size of Dave’s large frame I may have concluded his sport was rugby, but a quick scan of his studio reminded me how dangerous it can be to assume anything. Portrayed in an inimitable style, epic images of Gerrard, Pele, Zidane, Aguero, van Persie and Balotelli occupied the white spaces of the walls. While some were framed, others were simply taped to the wall at the corners as if they’d just that minute been finished. A couple of them he had to unfurl like a medieval scroll from their tube storage.

No need to ask if he’s a football fan, then, I thought.

Despite reasoning that football is just a game, I grew self-conscious as I asked the inevitable question of which team held Dave’s support. As a fan, living in a city like Manchester is impossible without pledging a red or blue allegiance – approximately 35 miles down the River Mersey, Anfield and Everton literally split the city of Liverpool in two – and for a brief moment it felt as if I was standing in front of the Pope questioning his faith in Christianity. A broad smile fixed Dave’s face and I almost expected him to draw a cross on his chest and look up to the sky as if I had betrayed his love for City just by asking the question.

Unprompted but without a trace of cockiness, Dave followed up by saying, “things are good at the moment [at City]. It’s not a case of if we will score, but when.”

In the summer of 2013, Dave’s Pele and Zidane received plentiful acclaim at the Fantasista Exhibition of football art in London where his Pele also featured on the front cover of the program. Inside, the introductory notes next to his name read, “the sensitivity with which his football heroes are rendered reflects his affection for them: The skill of the footballer is manifest in the skill of the artists’ hand.”

This might be a good time to admit that I was cast aside like a spent palette when the good Lord was handing out artistic talent and, for this reason, I was even more awestruck upon being shown Dave’s art by a colleague.

Despite my lack of talent for drawing, I knew enough to realise that Dave’s style reminded me of Cubism, an influential art movement of the twentieth century pioneered by artists such as Pablo Picasso and Paul Cezanne. In Cubism, objects are analysed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form, much like the process Dave uses. As I threw my observation in Dave’s direction, I could tell the notion wasn’t that alien and he was quick to agree a similarity in style, adding that one of his favourite paintings is the Modernist classic, Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase.

The longer Dave and I talked about his art, the more I felt I should be calling him by a more majestic name, one that adequately reflected his artistry. But Dave seemed more than fitting for his unpretentious nature, which he modestly substantiated by admitting that his style was conceptualised whilst sketching in front of the TV. His subject, you ask? A Stormtrooper’s body armour.

From Stormtroopers and caricatures of TV characters to footballers and various other works, I got the impression that Dave is in a good place and more than happy with the direction of his art. His love of football came through not just at the mere mention of Manchester City, but through the pride he has in his work and the enjoyment he clearly gets from portraying his subjects.  

Exchanging pleasantries with Dave as I was leaving, I thought back to the Cubists and felt a strange combination of sadness and curiosity. While the likes of Duchamp and Picasso will never realise their works’ impact and influence on the artists of today, I wondered how they would have drawn the world’s best footballers if they were still alive.

Dave’s work can be viewed at www.davemerrell.com