Soccer presents itself as a flurry of activity. Bodies tangle, balls fly, faces twist in joy and pain and the turf rises to the sky. Cortada takes us through the progression of the sport. His intertwining images represent the game played by amateur youths in the green turf of a local barrio , then depicts professional athletes whose very bodies connect with and create the stadium of fans. He then takes us to a place where soccer becomes universal where green pieces of turf representing different teams across the globe swirl around and create the sport.
Baseball is about the passion of the sport.
Where Soccer seems almost wild, this painting seems to show an orderly depiction of a game in progress. Yet it is actually a composite of freeze-framed moments. Events that wouldn't naturally happen at once, here converge to relay the tremendous feeling of excitement and emotion found in the game. In these two works, Cortada not only communicates the importance of the sport and the athletes, but also honors the fans. He believes that sports not only give fans pleasure, but unite and empower them.