Although dated 2000, this piece actually dates back to 1981. It can be seen in its original form in the illustrated anthology Scar Strangled Banger (Salem House Publishers,1988) though, for some reason, Ralph returned to the work in 2000 adding more colour to the original.
Steadman has this to say about sport in America: “American sport is an outward expression of the country’s life-blood, the bursting of a dam, the outpourings of a reservoir of, as yet, untapped energy. The driving force lies deep in the American Psyche. Americans live with the certain knowledge that the real source of their greatness has not been released. The intensity of their worship drives the gods in the area beyond mortal goals and beyond normal brute force, so much so that these gods are encased in armour to ward off evil spirits and the unthinkable possibility that they may be injured, albeit by another god from another place.”
Ink and acrylic paint on paper, 1981
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