Borje Salming
As You've Never Seen Him Before
Borje Salming has been showcased at the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1996 -- but never like this! The former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman can now be viewed on canvass in a series of provocative paintings on display at The SPORT Gallery.
Salming, 56, shed his clothes and posed for internationally renowned Swedish graffiti artist
Johan A Wattberg to create 31 stunning portraits, each personally autographed by Salming. Twelve sold quickly after being unveiled in Stockholm and Toronto, and The SPORT Gallery has been chosen to be the exclusive, worldwide representative for the remaining 19 original paintings.
"I first thought this was a crazy idea, but I have seen Johan Wattberg's paintings and I like them," said Salming. "They are not normal paintings. I like that he goes his own way."
Wattberg, 29, was dubbed a child prodigy at the age of 10, had his first exhibition at 13 and is today regarded as a world master in the field of graffiti art. He was a featured contributor to the 2007 Swedish Art Show and his work has been shown in several exclusive Swedish galleries. To create the Salming canvasses Wattberg took 400 photographs and made several sketches of the hockey legend.
It took Wattberg more than a year to complete the paintings. He says he accepted the project because he sensed a "dynamic between street and Salming."
"There is a hardness to my art that matches Borje's barren features," Wattberg said. "I've seen Borje play, and it's pretty hardcore, just like the way I paint."
As an NHL star, Salming was an explosive player on the ice who shunned the limelight of it. Wattberg set out to capture that dichotomy.
"Borje as a person is very calm," said Wattberg. "He doesn't want to be in the spotlight very much so I painted him in one of the corners in most of the paintings and then you see the more abstract, all the colours and everything, that more reflects his way of playing."
The project was the brainchild of Salming's close friend Mats Juhlin. After attending a showing of Wattberg's work, he decided to play matchmaker for the painter and the former athlete. Salming was initially reluctant but came around after attending a Wattberg exhibition.
"I sort of got hooked and said, 'okay, let's do it'," said Salming, who modeled underwear after his NHL career and who remains in remarkable physical shape.
The SPORT Gallery was chosen to be the exclusive representative for the paintings following an exhaustive search by Juhlin.
"We wanted to work with a gallery that had strong ties to both the sports and the art communities," he said. "I couldn't believe my luck when I came across The SPORT Gallery. It merges both worlds in spectacular fashion, and is the perfect home for these outstanding paintings."
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