The Sporting League

About

In 2002 Marc Renshaw determined to record and document results and statistics from The Sporting League — a conceptual football world that the artist claims has existed since 1985. 'Bayerns', 'Tranquilayers', Universo Collunteen' and 'Novia' may sound like international football teams but in fact belong to a fictional super league. Intricate text panels produced in biro on large sheets of off-whitepaper line a whole wall of the gallery. Match results and league tables from ten seasons have been faithfully recorded with the dryness of a serious statistical archive, yet rendered with an obsessive and imperfect drive that appears self-indulgent. Although the project may have an appearance of obsession, it retains sophistication and an understanding of itself within a wider art historical context. The exhibition in The Ropewalk Artspace Gallery offers The Sporting League project up for public consumption. Visitors can participate in score prediction and compete at table soccer. The artist will be performing live in the gallery space each Saturday for the duration of the show. The Sporting League's official blog is also featured on a-n's Artists Talking website which provides all the latest news and developments from the project. Sporting League Blog: www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/548101 Website: www.marcrenshaw.com