The FIFA World Cup kicks off in Mexico City on June 11, with matches taking place in 16 host cities across North America through July 19, 2026. In celebration, learn about Michelle Grabner (b. 1962) and her soccer ball artwork that she hopes gets “kicked around and scuffed up with grass stains.”
1. Coaches
Grabner’s artwork is informed by her father’s and grandfather’s creative outlets, including those traditionally considered “women’s work.” With equal gusto, they painted, carved sculptures, hooked rugs, and quilted. Having witnessed them craft, Grabner stated, “I never imagined living life without making aesthetic things with my hands.”
2. Home Advantage
The routine of everyday life and aesthetics of domestic objects, especially textiles such as crocheted blankets, washcloths, and paper towels, inspire Grabner’s conceptual art. Her work takes various forms, including painting, paper weaving, photography, video, multiples, and found-object sculpture. The thread that binds them is her commitment to exploring themes of labor, order, and repetition.
3. Teammates
Gingham soccer ball (Issue 27, The Thing Quarterly) (2015) is a limited-edition artwork, or multiple, produced en masse and sold for a modest price. Grabner teamed up with the art-object publication The Thing Quarterly (2007–2017) to make this work a reality and to transform thrifty art (and football) lovers into collectors.
4. Ball
Grabner’s work mimics a modern soccer ball with a slight spin. While she retained the 12 traditional black pentagonal panels, she added a bold gingham print to 19 hexagonal panels, making a pattern primarily seen on domestic textiles and women’s dresses pitch perfect. The 20th hexagonal panel is white and features the artist’s name.
5. Penalty
The bright colors and playful patterns of Gingham soccer ball suggest whimsy while its form invites a friendly match. Yet its true goal is to play defense. Grabner created this object as a three-dimensional rebuttal to a sexist exhibition review that categorized the artist as a “middle-class tenured professor and soccer mom.”