Football’s Coming Home – The Home Mural Tribute to Southgate’s Men
Expressionist artist, Ben Mosley – Club Wembley Artist in residence – is depicting the journey of England’s Euro 2020 campaign, with a large scale painted mural, in his very own house!
Mosley, 39, has taken to the walls of his Kent home, in a bid to pay tribute to the journey of Gareth Southgate’s men. Whilst the England team fell just short of victory, there are many positives for Ben and England fans to take away from this run to the final and, with the World Cup being held in Qatar next year, the team will be looking for a swift bounce back and sweet redemption. The work in progress mural, entitled ‘Football’s Coming Home’, highlights key moments from each England game, as they progressed through the tournament.
“It’s quite unusual for an artist to paint a mural on his own wall”, Ben explains. “If it wasn’t for Covid I would have found a more public, prominent wall to paint and to celebrate England’s great achievements throughout this incredible tournament. However, my wall was big, my wall was available and I could get to it straight away. I didn’t want to sit and wait, to show my love and enthusiasm for the England team, and the beautiful game. I’ve been painting about our national football team for 20 years now, so to see England successful really means everything to me. I wanted to capture the feeling, the spirit and the energy of the tournament in real time, and that meant working on it during the tournament. Though we fell just short this time, it’s been a pleasure to see the team perform, over the last 5 weeks. Whilst we may not be gaining anything for the trophy cabinet, the squad brought hope and unity back to the country and, once the pain that they all must be feeling starts to fade, they should all be incredibly proud and carry their heads high”.
The use of precious metals, including 24k gold leaf and palladium, have become synonymous with Mosley’s work. Alongside Ben’s solo exhibition of 40 paintings on display at Club Wembley, he is also the only artist to have two murals adorning the halls at Wembley Stadium.
The first mural, entitled ‘A Tale of Two Wembleys’ is a collection of twelve created canvases, in addition to a painted wall mural, spanning nearly 50 metres along the wall in the club Wembley Gold Section. The installation celebrates both the past and the present and documents the transition from the old to the new Wembley Stadium, with a mural of the crowd linking the two together.
Ben’s second mural, ‘History’, documents Wembley’s greatest events – from when it first opened in 1923 in it’s first iteration – to the new Wembley in present day. Hand-painted directly onto the wall, the mural shows the crowd walking through time, bearing witness to each event that has taken place at the illustrious stadium.
“The mural – History – has two sides to it. The first is the symbolism of being part of a collective, a tribal family, where you’re all together as one, moving in harmony. The other side displays the celebration of it all; all the iconic moments which have taken place at the stadium throughout the years. ‘History’, showcases how those two worlds are undeniably intertwined and portrays a positive message about giving people hope, togetherness and unity”, details Mosley.
Ben’s ‘Football’s Coming Home’ mural will reach a conclusion over the coming days, as – first – Ben depicts the victories through quarter-finals and semi-finals, before finishing the piece with a scene from the final.
When asked how his partner, with whom Mosley shares his home, felt about his latest piece, Mosley replied, “honestly, I don’t know how she puts up with me! I’ve been living and breathing football for so long, I’m just fortunate she’s very supportive, even when my passion invades our home walls”.
“All that being said, I’m sure she’s secretly looking forward to the redecoration!”, Ben concluded.
Ben has confirmed that, once the image has been captured professionally in its entirety, the digital asset will be sold as a non-fungible token (NFT), his first foray into the blockchain realm.