Sports
Want to shoot hoops at a museum? Basketball meets art at interactive Everson exhibit in Syracuse – syracuse.com
Jason Middlebrook’s interactive installation “Respect the Call” (left) is featured in “Hoop Dreams,” alongside a film project by Ari Markopoulos depicting public basketball courts and pick-up games in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Tania Ortiz
Basketball, the 13-rule game invented in 1891, has grown far beyond the court since its creation. It’s evolved into an expansive cultural phenomenon, inspiring music, fashion, film, and art. The Everson’s latest exhibition features artists approaching the sport through new perspectives, and even lets you play a little ball at the museum.
“Hoop Dreams: Basketball and Contemporary Art” showcases the sport’s impact through the work of 17 emerging and mid-career artists, who share a deep appreciation for the game as fans and former collegiate players.
The exhibition had been an idea Everson Museum of Art director Elizabeth Dunbar has thought about putting together for years, she said.
“In more recent years, I think basketball has grown in popularity. Just across the globe,” Dunbar said. “There are more and more artists that are using [basketball] as a subject or theme.”
While “Hoop Dreams” focuses on contemporary artists using basketball as a central theme, the museum wanted to tie it to the community by including artifacts like the 24-second shot clock invented in Syracuse, she said.
Dunbar, a basketball fan, said the game is creative and energetic, and that basketball has great beauty that easily translates to the art-making experience.
Artists Jason Middlebrook and Michael C. Thorpe both played at the collegiate level (University of California at Santa Cruz and Emerson College, respectively). They take inspiration from their experiences with the sport and put it into their work.
Middlebrook created mosaic basketballs representing five different points in basketball history, including the Syracuse Nationals winning the NBA championship in 1955 and SU men’s basketball winning the NCAA national championship in 2003—just in time for the 20th anniversary.
“I wanted to do something about Syracuse and basketball because so much about the history of basketball started in Syracuse,” Middlebrook said.
Middlebrook also worked on an interactive installation called “Respect the Call,” where museum goers can shoot free throws and three-pointers while visiting the exhibition.
The installation is made from 33 recycled basketball hoops—covering an entire wall in the museum—inspired by Middlebrook’s love for playing pick-up games his whole life, he said.
Thorpe’s pieces reflect his journey playing the sport. The first of two works by the textile artist is a quilted recreation of a rookie card his mom kept from when he played basketball at the YMCA in Massachusetts, he said. The piece hangs alongside Michael Jordan’s rookie card in a display case.
His second quilted piece is based on a photograph of former Houston Rockets player Otis Thorpe (no relation) attempting to dunk but being denied by Utah Jazz’s Mark Eaton.
“I Got Next” demonstrates Alvin Armstrong ability to translate the athleticism of basketball onto a canvas. Tania Ortiz
The exhibition also features the work of Brandon Donahue and Alvin Armstrong.
Donahue’s “Basketball Bloom (Hair Checks)” demonstrates the similarities between basketball and barbershop culture. The piece is made from reconstructed basketballs with hair collected from barbershops covering the Nike logos on the basketballs.
“Basketball courts are also communal places where people gather. Sometimes not even to play basketball, but to watch and to congregate, sort of similar to a barbershop,” Donahue said.
In addition to the “Basketball Bloom,” Donahue’s second piece is a play on words. The “Courtroom Playbook” print series showcases an aerial view of a courtroom with basketball plays drawn over the layout.
“Something really interesting happens when you put like a basketball play over for room,” Donahue said. “It just sort of alludes to a lot of different legal plays.”
Armstrong’s pieces highlight the movements of basketball players. “I Got Next,” one of two pieces that will be featured, showcases two figures crossing over a basketball. Armstrong said that the painting translates the energy of being on the court into the canvas.
“I’m just not an outsider looking in like I actually was on the court,” he said. “I know how much work goes into these athletes’ lives. And it’s just a really intimate process for me.”
There will also be workshops for the community related to “Hoop Dreams: Basketball and Contemporary Art” during the Everson’s Free Winter Community Day this Saturday.
DETAILS:
What: “Hoop Dreams: Basketball and Contemporary Art” exhibition
Where: Everson Museum of Art
When: Feb. 4 – May 21
Tickets: Adults: $10, Seniors (65+), Students: $8, Children under 12: Free
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