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Wide World of Sports

4 Newtown Lane | East Hampton, NY

July 19 - August 10, 2019

Iván Navarro, Nowhere Man III, 2009

Iván Navarro

Nowhere Man III, 2009

Flourescent tubes, electricity

74h x 70w in
187.96h x 177.80w cm

INAV001

Iván Navarro, Nowhere Man V, 2009

Iván Navarro

Nowhere Man V, 2009

Flourescent tubes, electricity

78h x 72w in
198.12h x 182.88w cm

INAV002

Slater Bradley, Cancer Rising, 1/3, 2013

Slater Bradley

Cancer Rising, 1/3, 2013

Copper

11h x 8w x 8d in
27.94h x 20.32w x 20.32d cm

SLBR005

 Robert Longo Study of Footballer, 2018


Robert Longo
Study of Footballer, 2018
ink and charcoal on vellum
20 7/8h x 21 7/16w in
53.02h x 54.45w cm
RLON001

RLON002

Darío Escobar, Obverse & Reverse (Cloud XII), 2013

Darío Escobar

Obverse & Reverse (Cloud XII), 2013

latex, leather, string and steel

50 2/5h x 29 1/2w x 20d in
128.02h x 74.93w x 50.80d cm

DESC001

Deborah Kass, Koufax

Deborah Kass

Koufax

Silkscreen + acrylic on canvas

60h x 60w in
152.40h x 152.40w cm

DK003

Howard Kanovitz, Untitled (Mike Tyson)

Howard Kanovitz

Untitled (Mike Tyson)

charcoal on paper

11 1/2h x 25 1/8w in
29.21h x 63.82w cm

HKA064

Howard Kanovitz, Mike Maloy, 1969

Howard Kanovitz

Mike Maloy, 1969

laminated canvas on wood and acrylic

80 in height, including pedestal

HKA033

Nari Ward, Courtship Replay R.V., 2011-2019

Nari Ward

Courtship Replay R.V., 2011-2019

durag, peacock feather, stencil ink, krink marker, basketball trading cards, and collaged basketball mounted on aluminum

42h x 30w in
106.68h x 76.20w cm

WRD005

Al Freeman, Title to come

Al Freeman

Title to come

33h x 14w x 5d in
83.82h x 35.56w x 12.70d cm

ALFRE001

Hank Willis Thomas, Endless Column III, 2017

Hank Willis Thomas

Endless Column III, 2017

fiberglass, chameleon auto paint finish

88h x 8 7/8w x 8 7/8d in
223.52h x 22.54w x 22.54d cm

2/3

HWT002

Hank Willis Thomas, Hand of God, 2017

Hank Willis Thomas

Hand of God, 2017

fiberglass, chameleon auto paint finish

19 1/2h x 13 3/4w x 8 7/8d in
49.53h x 34.93w x 22.54d cm

2/3

HWT001

Carlos Rolón, My Father's Wishes, 2013

Carlos Rolón

My Father's Wishes, 2013

wallpaper, string, and bronzed boxing gloves on wood panel

64h x 50w in
162.56h x 127w cm

DZN013

Royal Jarmon, Wayne, 2019

Royal Jarmon

Wayne, 2019

acrylic on canvas

50h x 46w in
127h x 116.84w cm

RJAR001

Sam Keller (1986-), Can (Retro Gatorade), 2019

Sam Keller (1986-)

Can (Retro Gatorade), 2019

found can, Swarovski crystals

6 7/8h x 4w in
17.46h x 10.16w cm

SKEL002

Andrew Kuo, Zion (ball)

Andrew Kuo

Zion (ball)

Acrylic on canvas

24h x 18w in
60.96h x 45.72w cm

AK014

Charles McGill, Earth Triptych, 2016

Charles McGill

Earth Triptych, 2016

reconfigured golf bag parts on panel

24h x 72w x 3 1/2d in
60.96h x 182.88w x 8.89d cm

CMCG001

John Ahearn (1952-), Big Tone, 1984

John Ahearn (1952-)

Big Tone, 1984

acrylic on hydrocal plaster

24h x 22w x 10d in
60.96h x 55.88w x 25.40d cm

JAHE001

LeRoy Neiman, John McEnroe, 1989

LeRoy Neiman

John McEnroe, 1989

acrylic and enamel on board

12h x 8w in
30.48h x 20.32w cm

LNEI006

LeRoy Neiman, Ali vs Frazier, Round II at Madison Square Garden, 1974

LeRoy Neiman

Ali vs Frazier, Round II at Madison Square Garden, 1974

mixed media on paper

11 7/8h x 15 1/4w in
30.16h x 38.74w cm

LNEI001

LeRoy Neiman, Yannick Noah, 1989

LeRoy Neiman

Yannick Noah, 1989

acrylic and enamel on board

12h x 8w in
30.48h x 20.32w cm

LNEI007

Howardena Pindell, Video Drawings: Baseball, 1976

Howardena Pindell

Video Drawings: Baseball, 1976

chromogenic print

8h x 10w in
20.32h x 25.40w cm

HPIN001

Howardena Pindell, Video Drawings: Tennis, 1975

Howardena Pindell

Video Drawings: Tennis, 1975

chromogenic print

8h x 10w in
20.32h x 25.40w cm

HPIN002

Tyrrell Winston, A Life Well Lived

Tyrrell Winston

A Life Well Lived

Found/used basketballs, liquid plastic, epoxy, raw steel

39h x 36w x 9d in
99.06h x 91.44w x 22.86d cm

TWIN003

Wendy White, Billie Jean, 2019

Wendy White

Billie Jean, 2019

Inkjet and acrylic on three canvases, dibond

72h x 60w in
182.88h x 152.40w cm

WWHI045

Umar Rashid, Colonial Origins of the NBA Classic # 1 (Babylon), 2019

Umar Rashid

Colonial Origins of the NBA Classic # 1 (Babylon), 2019

acrylic and ink on paper mounted to panel

9h x 12w in
22.86h x 30.48w cm

URAS001

Eric Yahnker, The Storm (After Cot), 2019

Eric Yahnker

The Storm (After Cot), 2019

pastel on sandpaper

52h x 36w in
132.08h x 91.44w cm

YAHN004

Tom Sanford, James Harden, 2019

Tom Sanford

James Harden, 2019

Acrylic on paper mounted on aluminium panel

40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm

TSAN004

Eric Yahnker, Study For A Future Study, 2018

Eric Yahnker

Study For A Future Study, 2018

pastel on sandpaper

Framed: 95h x 56w in
241.30h x 142.24w cm

YAHN005

Rob Wynne, Versus, 2019

Rob Wynne

Versus, 2019

poured and mirrored glass

20h x 30w in
50.80h x 76.20w cm

WYN011

Tyrrell Winston, Strike Two, 2019

Tyrrell Winston

Strike Two, 2019

custom cut wood panel, canvas and silkscreen

16h x 18w x 1 3/4d in
40.64h x 45.72w x 4.45d cm

TWIN001

Jeanette Mundt, Untitled (Russian Dominance III), 2018

Jeanette Mundt

Untitled (Russian Dominance III), 2018

oil and glitter on paper

12h x 16w in
30.48h x 40.64w cm

JMUN001

Michael Combs, We're Far From Saints, 2019

Michael Combs

We're Far From Saints, 2019

Cedar, birch branches and antlers

12h x 12w x 16d in
30.48h x 30.48w x 40.64d cm

MCOM003

Press Release

Wide World of Sports
July 19 – August 10, 2019
Eric Firestone Gallery
4 Newtown Lane
East Hampton, NY

 

Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton is pleased to present “Wide World of Sports,” an exhibition which brings together artists using sport as a subject matter and will include works by the following artists:

John Ahearn • Slater Bradley • Michael Combs • Jerry Cooke • Darío Escobar • Travis Fish Al Freeman • David Hammons • Royal Jarmon • Howard Kanovitz • Deborah Kass • Sam Keller • Matthew King • Andrew Kuo • Robert Longo • Charles McGill • Jeanette Mundt • Iván Navarro • LeRoyNeiman • Howardena Pindell • Umar Rashid Carlos Rolón • Tom Sanford • Hank Willis Thomas • Nari Ward • Andy Warhol • Wendy White • Tyrrell Winston • Rob Wynne • Eric Yahnker

Sports is often called the great equalizer: bringing together people from diverse backgrounds as both players and spectators. While visual art can feel, for many, out of reach and inaccessible, through the potent act of bringing sports imagery into painting, sculpture, and installations, the artists in this exhibition open art to a broader audience. The exhibition itself becomes a metaphor for this reality: it freely intermixes the iconic historic work of Andy Warhol and LeRoy Neiman alongside significant voices in contemporary art including Hank Willis Thomas, Iván Navarro, and Robert Longo.

Competing as an athlete is not unlike having a studio practice: requiring dedication, stamina, and drive.  Wendy White, whose work is featured in the exhibition, has said: “I’m into the potential for either success or failure as a parallel between sports and art. Willpower is an incredible thing, and nothing to be taken lightly. The basic will to live, followed by the drive to do well at things, then to excel once momentum is created. I know it’s cliché, but it’s beautiful. Sports embody that, while also being emblematic of youth and desire.”

The show includes work invoking sports with a variety of approaches.  Several artists utilize sports equipment and paraphernalia, turning them into installation pieces or poetic commentary. These include abstract assemblages by Charles McGill, made of repurposed, vintage golf bags. David Hammons makes incisive, pointed alterations to basketball hoops and baseballs as commentary on visibility and invisibility in society. Nari Ward’s pieces, often incorporating found, discarded, and charred baseball bats, invoke a history of the violent oppression of African Americans. Guatemalan artist Darío Escobar uses hanging soccer balls to create surrealist forms of floating clouds. Tyrrell Winston’s work with found and discarded balls and nets suggests how history can be embedded in trash.

Artists in the show working within the tradition of portraiture invoke the beauty of the athletic body and the nature of celebrity.  A Warhol portrait of Willie Shoemaker, the most successful jockey in racing history, will be exhibited, along with a Deborah Kass painting with a repeating silkscreen image of Sandy Koufax which deliberately appropriates Warhol. Robert Longo’s ink and charcoal drawings of UFC fighters and football players are about the dynamism and physicality of the body locked in combat and the power of the seemingly benign gesture of taking a knee.

The exhibition will feature a suite of photographs by Jerry Cooke from his Bodies in Motion series, celebrating the Olympic athlete. Among these images will be Cooke’s photograph of Cathy Rigby executing a perfect split on the balance beam, which in 1972 became the first nude image of a woman published in Sports Illustrated, two years before Cooke would become the magazine’s Director of Photography. A few years prior, Sports Illustrated had also commissioned pioneer photorealist Howard Kanovitz to create sculptures of NCAA All American players for their 1969 College Basketball Issue. 

Other, more contemporary work, however, veers away from beauty towards eccentric figuration, suggesting how popular culture, and banal image saturation can infiltrate painting and sculpture. These ideas inform work by Tom Sanford, Andrew Kuo, Royal Jarmon, and the absurdist mash-ups of art history and spectacle in Eric Yahnker’s painting.

Finally, other artists approach sports at its convergence with formal abstraction.  Howardena Pindell’s Video Drawings of the 1970s place transparencies with notations of arrows and numbers above imagery of televised sports events. The marks signify the movement of the image across the television screen. Iván Navarro’s light sculptures are based on pictograms of athletes by a graphic designer for the 1972 Munich Olympics, and Matthew King’s work collages images of football with a minimalist abstract overlay.

The exhibition shows how the subject matter of sports can traverse the multifaceted range of the human experience: from aspiration and ideal beauty to banality, spectacle, and deep societal ills. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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