Born in Buenos Aires and raised in General Pico, La Pampa, artist Martin Kazanietz has dedicated years of his practice to creating paintings about amateur futbol culture. His current exhibition, “Diaro Derrota,” includes 11 paintings about his daily relationship to futbol and basketball, and how these sports manifest South American social commentary.

“I couldn’t help to think about this being my first solo show in the US, and my consumption of North America’s urge to compete and win,” Kazanietz says. “In Latin America and in my case, Argentina, we are more heavily related to loss and defeat. We’ve experienced political and economic domination by the North and West and their attempt at cultural dominance as well. I wonder if this is probably why we have thicker skin when it comes to crisis, and I also wonder if defeat could be thought of as something more human, since it’s something we all experience regularly.”

“Diario Derrota” is on view through June 30th at ALLCITY in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. See more below!