Artist captures passion of Rangers fans with mural destined for pub

[Steve1872 4]

In the shadows of Celtic park in the heart of Glasgowâ??s east end, a group of Rangers fans decked out in blue tops and striped scarves are dancing and singing in the street. Not something you would expect an Edinburgh boy to be masterminding.

The normally mellow men who just enjoy a pint and pub banter are jumping in the air, their grey hair bouncing in the sunshine, as they perform for the man holding a camera in front of them.

This is not a familiar setting for an artist who in the past has created huge Christmas card paintings for John Lewis and an impressive Tam Oâ?? Shanter mural.

But for Chris Rutterford, getting himself among the Rangers fans was going to be at the heart of his latest project â?? a 48ft-long, 7ft-high mural for the Bristol Bar in Glasgow.

â??For me, I wanted to make it about the fans. Everyone knows the players but they come and go, itâ??s the fans that stay with the club,â? the 39-year-old said.

â??People donâ??t like getting their photograph taken so most people were a bit reluctant but after the first lot, I had my iPad and showed them how the mural was at that point and it made it easier for them to see where it was going. Suddenly they were thinking, â??Iâ??m going to miss out on thatâ??.

â??The more people I involve in the painting, the greater the humanity is in it. Itâ??s a great motivator knowing this is a communal, shared experience.â?

For self-confessed rugby man Chris, trying to capture the spirit of Rangers fans during one of the most difficult times in the clubâ??s history was certainly a learning curve.

â??I had watched Rangers in Europe but Harry (Wylie, owner of the Bristol Bar) took me to my first game and it was against Annan Athletic,â? said Chris.

â??I was in the directorâ??s box and I had been told I had to wear a suit and tie but it was only when I got there I realised my tweed suit was a little on the green side â?? but I was wearing a blue shirt.

â??I had my camera with me and was taking photos of the Blue Order. My lens looks quite big when itâ??s extended and Iâ??m there zooming in on the crowd, theyâ??re all jumping around and singing songs â?? itâ??s quite amazing.

â??But half-an-hour in, they started chanting towards me and my camera. So Harry suggested, â??I think youâ??ve taken enough photosâ??. I think itâ??s maybe a symptom of what, as fans, theyâ??ve gone through over the last year and that they didnâ??t know what I was up to.â?

Having started the project in August, the evolution of the mural has paralleled Rangersâ?? season in the Third Division as they begin rebuilding after being liquidated and forming a new company.

The mural features more than 180 faces in the crowd, many of those being regulars from the Bristol Bar, but also featuring faces which have come to represent the Ibrox club, such as Ally McCoist, Walter Smith and Graeme Souness.

However, for Chris, itâ??s giving the fans that he has met and got to know the chance to have their football passion permanently preserved thatâ??s given him the most satisfaction.

He said: â??The wee guy in the far corner is Willie. He delivered all the boards and timber and kept asking me, â??when are you putting me in?â?? I think it really starts with him because, though Harry commissioned me, Willie brought me the raw materials.

â??The art world has abandoned the common people in a big way and disappeared to the world of the stockbrokers and the like. I would rather have paintings and really big art that is for drinking in front of.

â??People with beer goggles on arenâ??t as discriminating,â? he says with a chuckle.

Chris used an acrylic undercoat and then applied oil paint and beeswax to create the array of colour and life on the expansive work, with the whole process captured on film and condensed into a two-minute video.

And being from the east coast, Chris says, allowed him to create a work which isnâ??t influenced the issues that usually surround both sides of the Old Firm.

â??I think other artists have tended to focus on the more aggressive nature of it whereas I think the crowd is just full of normal people who just want to get their joy in it,â? he said.

â??I always knew that Glasgow was a really friendly place â?? Iâ??ve gone drinking there and to places like the Barrowlands loads.

â??Being from Edinburgh, you do feel a little out of your depth because Glaswegian personal space is a lot closer in than in Edinburgh but Iâ??ve had great nights in Glasgow and theyâ??re always really nice to me in the bar whenever I go there.â?

The mural is on display as part of an exhibition of Chrisâ?? work, including the John Lewis paintings and the Tam Oâ?? Shanter mural, running from April 6 to 14 at the Artâ??s Complex on London Road.

From there, the Rangers mural â?? which is the same length as a double-decker bus â?? will be placed in its permanent home, the Bristol Bar.

â??Iâ??m a storyteller,â? said Chris.

â??Iâ??m happy with the mural. The east end of Glasgow is a run-down area so itâ??s nice to bring something to that area thatâ??s unlike anything else.â?

 

http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/magazine/220341-rangers-fans-stars-of-edinburgh-artists-mural-destined-for-glasgow-pub/ nice video in link

[pete 2,499]

Waw that is fantastic. Some ugly people in the Bristol bar though.

[GovanAllan 0]

What's Souness doing in the middle.

[Zappa 0]

What's Souness doing in the middle.

 

I'm sure I see Walter Smith, John Greig and Richard Gough as well.

[pete 2,499]

What's Souness doing in the middle.

 

Yeh I thought that as well and it does say he also put in some Rangers hero's so it probably is meant to be him

[Zappa 0]

The guy below Souness is Super Ally.

[GovanAllan 0]

The guy just to the right of the Union Flag has got a belter of a black eye.

 

Is that meant to be Green just above and to the right of Souness.

Edited April 7, 2013 by GovanAllan

[Gribz 743]

Gascoigne behind Souness.

 

Is that a plane they are in though? I can see the windows at the right side.

[pete 2,499]

The guy below Souness is Super Ally.

 

I thought that as well although the beard threw me a bit.

[Gribz 743]

Souness, McCoist, John Greig, Walter, Gough and Gascoigne were easy to spot. Im thinking Butcher in their also.