In the Paint: Basketball in Contemporary Art

Exhibition Title: In the Paint: Basketball in Contemporary Art, Jauary 22 - March 29

January 22 –March 29, 2015

The exhibition will feature artworks in a variety of media that explore the world of basketball.  Concepts of performance, competition, branding, and spectacle are central to the work of contemporary artists who engage with the sport as subject matter.  Their work reveals structural similarities between the spheres of athletics and art, where athletes and artists alike are constantly engrossed in practice, promotion, and play to refine their skills and dominate their chosen fields.

In addition to highlighting the basketball-inspored artwork of contemporary artists, In the Paint aims to celebrate the history of the sport at UConn.  The exhibition’s two goals align in the two-channel video installation One on One by Janet Biggs, which features alumnae Morgan Valley (2000-2004) and Maria Conlon (2004).

The present overview only briefly describes what promises to be a powerful, rich, and engaging visual experience with broad public appeal.  In the Paint will add new dimensions to the ways of seeing the sport.

 

Stacked Basketball nets
Awol Erizku, “Oh what a feeling, aw, fuck it, I want a Trillion,” 2014 Mixed media with seven regulation size basketball rims, 24 karat gold plated nets, and Spalding NBA Brooklyn Nets team basketball. Courtesy of the artist and Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, NYC
Two basketball players jumping to put basketball into a noose
Hank Willis Thomas. “And One”, 2011 From the series: Strange FruitDigital chromogenic color print. Museum purchase.