For those too young to witness, hearing the name Ronaldo instantly conjures up the chiseled Portuguese winger who now (predictably) scores relentlessly in the Saudi league. But for older generations, Ronaldo Lima was the original phenom who catapulted both the Brazilian National Team and Nike within the world of football.
A group of emerging artists are showing their love for O Fenômeno (‘The Phenomenon’) though a new virtual exhibition to celebrate 30 years since R9 burst on the scene with Cruzeiro. Curated by A Store Like 94, the show includes a variety of one-off hand-painted artworks and giclée prints from the likes of Dan Draws, Jean Joao, 45 RPM, Iosone Kaba and many more. The premise of the show was centered around the founder’s desire to bring 30 male and female modern artists who equally share a love for one of football’s greatest strikers.
“Originally I had the grand plan for the exhibition to follow Ronaldo’s career path and move from city to city Eindhoven to Milan, Barcelona to Madrid and then maybe finish in Milan,” noted A Store Like 94 via Instagram. “But unfortunately after my father passing earlier in the year the whole project was put on hold and I came very close to canceling the whole thing…But…here we are. With a final flourish for the year and topped up on football magic from Napoli I worked hard over the festive period to create a virtual exhibition that hopefully you can now enjoy from the comfort of your own home, wherever you might be.”
The exhibition offers football fans, old and new, an opportunity to collect bespoke artwork on one of the sport’s fabled sons. Check out the full list of available artwork here.
