Houston-based artist Charles Middleton did not set out to paint a soccer match. He set out to capture the feeling many people experience when attending the World Cup.
His piece in “A Beautiful Game: Every Match Leaves a Mark,” now on view at Mitochondria Gallery in East Downtown, depicts a 1970 World Cup celebration in Mexico featuring Brazilian legend Pelé. Middleton titled it “The Embrace.” He said he avoided focusing on the players themselves and instead aimed to capture the emotional charge of the moment, the kind of collective release that ties directly to his own memories of winning and losing.
“That moment captured for me is just this, it just brings me back,” he said. My education, my schooling, my celebrations, my wins, and how I felt during my times, too as well.”
Houston has a large African diaspora population. And we thought it’d be essential if we had some level of representation of that. And art from the continent is something that the world appreciates.
Timi Etecu Mitochondria Gallery
The group exhibition, curated by Jackson Smith, runs through July 3 and brings together artists from the United States and Africa to examine how soccer shapes identity, memory, and community. The show opened to the public on June 13 and is free throughout its run. It coincides with Houston’s role as a host city for the FIFA World Cup, and the gallery sits blocks from the FIFA Fan Festival in East Downtown.
His own connection to soccer began through his brother, Jordan, who became a Chelsea fan while studying abroad in London and brought Smith into the sport in his mid-to-late twenties. That personal entry point shaped how he approached curating the show, drawing in American and African artists whose relationships to the game differ widely.
“Soccer means different things to different people,” Smith said. “Several American artists in the show gravitated toward Pele, a figure many Black Americans associate with greatness in the sport, while African artists’ work reflected what soccer means within their own communities.”
One artist created a piece rooted in Saturday mornings spent watching games with an uncle. Another explored an unfulfilled dream of playing professionally. Smith said the show came together without creative friction among the artists, despite their different backgrounds.
The exhibition grew out of a partnership between Smith, his brother Jordan, and Mitochondria Gallery owner Timi Etecu, who said the gallery has spent years building a pipeline for African artists to show their work in Houston, a city with a large African diaspora population.
“Houston has a large African diaspora population. And we thought it’d be essential if we had some level of representation of that,” Etecu said. “And art from the continent is something that the world appreciates.”
Assembling a show of this scale typically takes close to six months, beginning with conversations with artists about concept and direction before any work is created, and then moving on to shipping, preparation, and logistics. Planning for “A Beautiful Game” began as early as December.
Mitochondria Gallery occupies a building more than 100 years old that has cycled through uses, including as an artist studio in the 1980s. Etecu said bringing art back into the space, with its exposed brick and high ceilings, has resonated with the community.
With the World Cup drawing international visitors to East Downtown, Smith said the gallery wanted to welcome a new audience without losing its core mission of accessibility. Programming has included a Team USA watch party and an upcoming artist talk, in addition to the exhibition itself.
“A Beautiful Game: Every Match Leaves a Mark” is on view at Mitochondria Gallery, 2220 Commerce St., through July 3. Admission is free. More information is available at mitochondriagallery.com.
