Soon after the Ballon d’Or was awarded, Lionel Messi already had his painting in Paris

Monday, October 30 Lionel Messi to return to Paris Everything indicates that he will usher in the eighth golden ball At the event of the famous French magazine french football, The award is given to the best football player of the year.

If confirmed, the Argentinian star will become the only footballer to win the top individual award eight times. On the same day, his portrait will be exhibited at the Casa Argentina, also in the French capital.

crazy leo yes work Argentinian artist Juan Riviere The painting created to immortalize Messi will be displayed in a group exhibition along with other paintings by 40 other Argentinian artists Casa Argentina in Paris.

“It is purely accidental that this work appears in Paris on this day. I hope Messi can win the eighth Ballon d’Or.” He said. Juan Rivierethe author of this painting crazy leoin conversation Charming culture.

Rivière, 38, defines himself as A visual artist who creates sports icons and different icons of Argentinian culture These include Charly García, Eva Perón and Astor Piazzolla, among others. He was born in the town of La Prida, 500 kilometers from Buenos Aires. At the age of 17, he settled in the city. He is also a San Lorenzo fan, photographer and publicist.

Juan managed to combine football and painting thanks to private lessons given to him by his great-uncle, the plastic artist Washington Rivière, who taught him the secrets of producing true works of art. “He taught me everything. “I spent four years doing oil portraits. “

As a result, he increasingly established himself as an artist. He usually takes unpopular portraits of individuals. He was as passionate about football as ever, but remained distant from his subjects as an artist, until 2020, when his career took an unexpected turn.

“One day my wife told me: ‘Why don’t you learn from Maradona?’ That was when Diego passed away in 2020. That’s when I started the Diego series. He was in Paris last year,” he revealed road. Rivière.

Serie A diguitos It consists of nine paintings covering different stages of Maradona’s life. They are exhibited at BADA, other cultural spaces such as the “Gran Galería”, Boca Art Boulevard and in different places around the city. And, of course, his hometown of La Prida.

Quickly, Maradona’s paintings are significant and cross the Atlantic: In 2022 they are on display at the “Musée du Louvre Carrousel”, the Embassy of Argentina in the French capital and the Maison Argentina in the Cité Universitaire in Paris.

over there, On Monday, October 30, Riviere will unveil his portrait of Messi. The Ballon d’Or was presented on the same day as Diego Armando Maradona’s birthday (he would have turned 63), an artist whom the artist considers an idol and refer to.

“I’m a Maradona and a fan of Messi. When I started creating Diego and saw all the impact it had, I went to football to combine my two passions: football and art,” he emphasized.

In fact, his work Shenieze Banner, Portrait of Diego Armando Maradona with colors of Boca, Attend the Xeneize National Auditorium, organized by Boca Juniors’ Cultural Department. The winner of the match will be announced a few days after the Copa Libertadores final.

Riviere plays Messi in the “Lunatica” exhibition, organized annually by artist Alfredo Segatori on the Avenue of the Arts.

“Alfredo asked me to draw Diego, but I didn’t listen to him: I drew Messi. The impact of this work was even greater because Leo won the World Cup,” recalls its creator.

In October 2022, a month before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Riviere was inspired by a photo of Leo on the cover of the official PSG magazine published in 2019, when the Rosario star was still a player for the Paris team and won the won his seventh championship golden ball.

“I drew it at the time; “I had the desire and the belief that Leo could win the World Cup. So I put some gold foil on the bottom to lift him up and hopefully he’ll get the World Cup. ” the author revealed.

That’s how it was born crazy chaos, paying tribute to Messi with colors and words on the occasion of the Lunatica Expo. The work is an oil painting on canvas dedicated to the Argentine star. Its dimensions are one meter high and another meter long.

“I have a lot of respect for Leo. The hair and the rest of it are a little violet and pink because the Lunatica layout is that color” – Rivière explains – “That’s why it is like that crazy chaos: I mixed in the purple jersey that the Argentina national team used as a replacement at the World Cup, Since the font of “Lunatica” is purple, the painting was made using those colors. “

The original work is now in the artist’s home. However, he usually makes replicas that are 30cm high by 30cm long or 40cm high by 40cm long. One is owned by journalist and entertainer Andy Kusnetzoff.The magazine’s French correspondent Florent Torchut also has another french football and the author of this book lion king.

Tolhut is Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or winner in 2019. Furthermore, he defines himself as “the most Argentinian Frenchman”.

With the success of his work, crazy chaos Coming to the Old World, like the series of paintings about Maradona he created for a group show a year ago.

The replica will be on display this weekend at the Paris Art Shoppe, one of the major international contemporary art events held at the Louvre Carrousel. It will then be exhibited at the Paris Maison Argentina from Monday 30 October to 10 November. Messi’s paintings will then travel to Amsterdam for the first time.

The artist commented: “When Leo came back to Paris after everything that had happened, everything that was talked about, and how they were going to receive him, this piece was there, and to me that was amazing.”

Leo Messi still doesn’t know about Rivière’s work, and Rivière almost managed to give him the painting: “It was when Messi was at Don Julio’s Grill in Palermo. I lived in In front of the restaurant, I left with the painting, but I couldn’t give it to him. They wouldn’t let me in. There were too many people inside and outside, so I couldn’t squeeze in.”

Perhaps Monday, October 30 will be a special day for Argentines in the City of Light, when the stars will shine again: Leo Messi visits Casa Argentina in Paris , gaze at the portrait Rivière made of him for the eighth Ballon d’Or, to be precise, on what would have been Diego Armando Maradona’s 63rd birthday.

besides his work crazy chaosa painting by Rivière Astor Piazzolla was selected for the 120th Traditional Autumn Salon, Also in the French capital.Your work will be exhibited From January 17 to 21, 2024. The artist will travel then.

Riviere was the only Argentinian representative This exhibition is presented in France’s most historic art salon, which includes Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Anne Paintings and sculptures by artists of universal significance such as Thauvin Bourdelle and Auguste Rodin.