Sacred Space: Beyond The Game and Glory

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, Selected in 2018, Forthcoming

The devotion of individuals, communities, and nations to the sport of basketball and its respective court can be likened to a sort of refuge or place of worship. Basketball courts remain a constant and autonomous fixture in communities that transcend the flux surrounding them. Although governed by a set of rules, they are democratic to all that have skill and respect for the game.

Basketball culture has influenced style, slang, music and inspired visual artists to create works that meaningfully link their identity with the game. Sacred Space: Beyond The Game and Glory explores basketball as a subject of devotion in contemporary art. The exhibition features various mediums - painting, photography, textile, audio and sculpture - that treat basketball iconography with a sense of reverence. Featured artists use basketball motifs to create what appear like altarpieces and photographs that tell a story of the communities surrounding them or that demonstrate basketball's influence around the world.

This exhibition features the work of contemporary photographers, artists and designers, including photographs by Bobbito Garcia, Kevin Couliau, Richard James Daniels; sculpture by Tyrrell Winston and textiles by the designers of PIECES by An Aesthetic Pursuit. Programs will include a moderated panel, film screenings and a basketball game for collaborators at the West Fourth Basketball Court in New York City complete with custom jerseys. A portion of print sales will be donated to a youth basketball program in Puerto Rico.