OOF

Three bare-chested men wearing shorts and gold chains relax in the shade in American artist Henry Taylor's 'Forest fever ain't nothing like, "Jungle Fever"'. The painting is a reimagining of Manet's 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' from 1863, except with a football in place of Manet's upturned picnic basket. And right of centre in Taylor's seemingly placid scene, laid out on the green grass, is a football top displaying the name of Kylian Mbappé. Writing in the latest issue of OOF, @kadishmorris suggests that the shirt is symbolic of a political undercurrent in the work; a nod to Mbappé's forthright stance on racism. 'The shirt proudly resting close to the body of one of the figures is a sign of solidarity with the footballer', writes Morris. Given that the painting was first exhibited in Paris in 2023, it could easily be read as a protest against the French Football Federation's failure to support the player after he'd suffered racist abuse from fans following the national team's defeat to Switzerland in 2021. Read all about it in issue 13 of OOF. Out now.

Our final Christian Jeffery artwork (for now - he's working on some incredible stuff here in his studio) is this gorgeous Ajax top. Constructed from a soft crepe fabric sourced from a Casablanca street market, the shirt celebrates the links between Moroccan football and the famous Dutch club. The three red stripes running down the centre are upcycled from a vintage Ajax shirt, while the back features Noussair Mazraoui, the Moroccan international full-back who came through the ranks at Ajax to play almost a hundred first team games. Christian has painted the player's name and number in the colours of the Morocco flag using typography developed by Dutch sculptor and designer Jurriaan Schrofer. This ain't just some lazy, half-baked kit concept, you know... This one-off piece is now available to buy - DM for price or to arrange a viewing. See more of Christian's amazing work in 'Tops Off: A Century of Football Shirt Art', open this weekend: Sat 11-5 & Sun 12-4.  Christian Jeffery @christianjeffery_projects 'From Morocco to Amsterdam (Three Little Stripes)' 1 of 1 2021

It's day 4 of Christian Jeffery Week and this next piece is pretty special. Remember when Barcelona opted to wear the Unicef logo on their shirts rather than sell out to some multi-billion quid corporation? Cool, right? Well, that was the inspiration behind Christian's hand-stitched Barca shirt, made up of 562 separate pieces of material cut from items of clothing bought from Unicef. Christian's purchases meant that 60 doses of a measles vaccine and 160 rehydration sachets were sent out to vulnerable children. Profits from the sale of this upcycled shirt will be donated to Unicef, so the aim is to reach even further.  The geometric panel design is a nod to M.C. Escher's 'Cycle' (1938) in which tessellating blocks dissolve into a sprawling perpetual pattern. Did Christian regret taking on such a complicated and laborious project, especially as he had no previous experience with patchwork football shirts? Probably. Will it all be worth it if we can raise a bit of cash for charity. Deffo. See the work at 'Tops Off: A Century of Football Shirt Art'. DM for price or to arrange a studio visit with Christian at OOF Residency.  Christian Jeffery @christianjeffery_projects 'Unicef Barça Patchwork' 1 of 1 2022

It pains us to say it, but this hand-painted Arsenal jersey is right up there with Christian Jeffery's best work. He came up with the idea as a tribute to the rich footballing history shared between Arsenal and France, travelling to Paris in 2022 to source the heavy-weight cloth. Once he'd hunted down the perfect red toile fabric, he set to work constructing the shirt, cutting out and stitching three long stripes for each arm. The painted adidas logo came next, along with the classic cannon badge, and finally the old skool JVC sponsor across the chest. The result is, quite literally, a work of art.  For the first time, this one-off piece is available to buy - DM for price. Christian Jeffery @christianjeffery_projects 'Toile de Highbury' 1 of 1 2022

If you're an avid reader of OOF, or you've visited our current show, you'll already know that the very first Croatia strip was the work of Miroslav Šutej. The avant-garde painter and graphic artist was responsible for incorporating the iconic chequerboard pattern into Croatia's first flag and coat of arms in 1990. So when the newly-formed national side needed a kit for their inaugural match against the USA, Šutej got the call and went all-in on red and white squares. Well, if it ain't broke... Christian Jeffery is clearly a big fan, paying homage to Šutej's concept of multiple squares and adapting it for this amazing handmade shirt. Christian's intricate pattern, consisting of layered squares outlined in gold, is totally hand-painted and took well over a month to complete. We reckon Šutej would have been all over it. DM for price or to arrange a studio visit. Another of Christian's one-off shirts will be available at 6pm tomorrow.  Christian Jeffery @christianjeffery_projects 'Squares in Squares' 1 of 1 2022

Not only is Christian Jeffery our current artist-in-residence here at OOF, but his incredible handmade football shirts are front and centre of our latest show. This one-off England shirt has been attracting loads of attention since the exhibition opened and now we're making it available to buy. Christian sourced the floral fabric for 'Saint George with Flowers' in London in 2023, way before the recent meltdown over a tweaked flag on the official England top. His aim was to soften the hyper-macho way that the Saint George's Cross is traditionally presented, while still retaining a strong sense of Englishness in the design of the shirt. He accomplished this by carefully painting a deep red cross onto the fabric, delicately weaving in and out of the flowers, before using a thin brush to add the England crest and swoosh logo. It's beautiful - in some places the flowers are just visible below the red, as if they're about to burst through.  You can see Christian's work in the flesh as part of 'Tops Off: A Century of Football Shirt Art', open Mon, Thur, Fri, Sat & Sun. We'll be posting one of his shirts at around 6pm every day this week; each will be for sale. DM for price list and studio visits.  Christian Jeffery @christianjeffery_projects 'Saint George with Flowers'  1 of 1 2023

Our brand new issue goes heavy on football top art and the artists that use shirts to express their ideas. From @louisbever_ !!re!!_039;s classical portraits, to @damien_cifelli_ !!re!!_039;s fictional footballers, to @thefootballgal_ !!re!!_039;s intricate designs. Not only that, we've got features on @mariannasimnett , @jackhirons , @chinatowntaylor and @ggonzalezleal.studio , plus @catja.christensen on why diving is art. Sort of. Issue 13 is on sale now for just 8 quid.  Pic 1: Louis Bever Charlizee in 1996 Croatia home shirt holding rose recreating Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 1866 'Regina Cordium: Alice Wilding' 2023 Pic 2: Louis Bever Ilselena in 2003 Colombia away shirt and sunflower recreating Paul Gauguin's 1891 'Woman with Flower' 2023 Pic 3: Damien Cifelli  The Emperor 2023 Pic 4: Diana Al Shammari Japan x Nigo embroidered shirt 2023 Pic 5: It's OOF, dummy. Buy it.

Any idea who designed the logo for hegemonic international lollipop brand Chupa Chups? Go on, have a guess. Give up? Well, it was none other than Surrealist supremo Salvador Dalí. Mad that, eh. Come and read the stories behind the football shirts and artworks in our latest exhibition. Open today 12-4, Mon/Thur/Fri 10-5, Sat 11-5. Closed Tue & Wed.

Oh boy, in the excitement of launching our summer show, we almost forgot to plug the new mag! But it's here and it might just be the best one yet. Issue 13 (THIRTEEN!!!) is full of our usual art & football bollocks but... somehow... like, even better... We've got the lowdown on the new football film by cover star @mariannasimnett , art historical portraiture by the brilliant @louisbever , poultry-tastic paintings by @jackhirons and ancestral worship in the work of @ggonzalezleal.studio . Elsewhere, there's @kadishmorris on artist Henry Taylor and @catja.christensen on uber diver Arjen Robben, plus the most serious and comprehensive exploration of the artistic significance of football tops you'll ever likely to read. It's all very OOF.  If you bought a mag at last night's exhibition launch, thanks a million, it really does mean the world. You can grab a copy online for just 8 quid plus p&p, while subscribers enjoy the added bonus of a free piece of art tucked away inside every issue. We'll get those posted out as soon as we've dealt with these hangovers. Promise.

The latest exhibition brought to the OOF Gallery at @tottenhamhotspurstadium examines the artistic history of the football shirt 🤩 The exhibition - opened today (13 June) to coincide with the start of UEFA EURO 2024 - looks at how artists have used the ubiquity of football shirts for over a hundred years to communicate ideas of community 🙌

Bosnian-born, California-based artist @skohabibi takes a collage approach to making these gorgeous wearable sculptures. Tackling ideas of displacement, war, identity, migration and sanctuary, he shows his one-off football shirts in @kiosko_94 , a ridiculously cool workshop and exhibition space in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. We're over the moon to have two of his amazing pieces in our new exhibition, opening tomorrow night. Get your name down for the pv via the link up top ⬆️ Sko Habibi 'We Are Poetry' 2024

If you know what's what, you'd have noticed that @hattie.crowther_ !!re!!_039;s latest football shirt collection - 'Fuck the Fans' - dropped last weekend. Following on from her anti-FIFA campaign, released to coincide with the World Cup in Qatar, the London-based designer has switched her attention to toxic football fans and the horrific abuse suffered by England's young Black players after the Euro 2020 final.  What you probably don't know is that Crowther has made some brilliant art for our latest exhibition. This David Beckham shirt shows his infamous reaction to a particularly abhorrent barrage of abuse from England supporters following defeat to Portugal at Euro 2000 - a reminder that fans turning on their own players is nothing new. We're quick to dig out FIFA and football's governing bodies for their greedy and corrupt ways, but Crowther's work points to how football fans can be absolute dickheads too.  Hattie Crowther 'Fuck the Fans (Beckham)' 2024 See Hattie Crowther's work at the opening of 'Tops Off: A Century of Football Shirt Art', opening Wed 12 June.