Get in the Game

Anyone can be an artist and sometimes the most unlikely person might just be one.  Let's look at some athletes who create art as well as art inspired by sports.

Micah Johnson grew up in Indiana and as a kid, worked at baseball everyday.  He spent hours at the gym and the ballfield, refining his skills.  Micah would go on to play at Indiana University and then for the White Sox, Braves and Dodgers.  

It wasn't until Micah was an adult that he considered himself an artist.  While still in the MLB, Micah went to a sip and paint class and there he realized he liked to paint.  After home games, he found painting helped him de-stress. He considers himself a self-taught artist. He works with charcoal and paint, often creating portraits that inspire children and even adults to follow their dreams.  Micah's art has been featured in galleries, art shows, murals, digitally and even branded on clothing.

“For me to get to the Major Leagues, it took me 18 years of continuous work -- I started when I was three,” Johnson said. “So, with art, I'm trying to work at that rate to condense those 18 years down. But that work ethic is instilled in me because I know at the end of that work, you're going to get rewarded.”
“My whole mission is to inspire children,” Micah says. “But I try to have that looseness to it. And that's just how I am. I work a lot with just my hands. Sometimes I don't even have a paintbrush in my studio. I try to do these really bold lines and have that perfect blend of whitespace and also color. That's how I'd define my style now.”

Another athlete turned artist is Michael Thorpe. Michael played college basketball and now quilts images of the court in his art.  His mom taught him to sew.  He uses fabric and thread to sew basketball images.

Fast Break by Red Grooms

Athletes can make art but also be the subject of art.  Now, let's look at some art that features sports and athletes as the topic or focus of the art.  Baseball, basketball, surfing, skating, you name it, it has been featured. Artist Red Grooms created this precarious sculpture of action on the court.  What sport is Red showing in his art?

Artists use lots of materials as their "canvas" or surface to paint on but a basketball ball court becomes a massive painting.  St. Louis artist William La Chance designed this court in St. Louis.

Basketball court in St. Louis, Missouri's Kinloch Park by William LaChance.

St. Louis artist Marley Billie D used paint and cardboard to create this jump shot while Felandus Thames uses hair beads to string together this floor to ceiling portrait of basketball player Allen Iverson.

Artist Hank Willis Thomas used jerseys to create his version of Picasso's Guernica, a painting showing Picasso's feelings about a civil war in Spain.

Artists Kelsey Armstrong created these hoops and nets with materials we usually thing of in which studio?

Artist Henry Taylor, paints heroes from his LA neighborhood.  See Alice Jump features Alice Marie Coachman Davis, an American athlete. She specialized in high jump and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

Aquatic sports inspire these works of art by Derek Fordjour and David Mazanic.  Can you name some aquatic sports?

Friday night lights becomes the subject of Catherine Opie's photo series.  What sport is being played?  As a photographer, the photos capture the high school community of the team and the landscape of the field.  Why is a team a community?

We can't pass on Soccer as the subject.  Peter Max created this colorful art work for the World Cup and Dario Escobar fills a gallery with soccer balls to create his sports sculpture.

Do you LOVE sports?  Many sports inspire art including these tennis paintings by Bronte Goodieson and Gonzalo Centelles.
Are you a FAN of art featuring sports?

Will you make art about a sport you play?

Do you belong to a team?

What is something that interests you that you might make art about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erX4OJh0AvU

Ernie Barnes was a former American professional football player who became an accomplished artist.

and art about sports

https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/get-in-the-game/

https://www.sfmoma.org/read/from-the-court-to-the-canvas-get-in-the-game-at-sfmoma/

Catherine Opie  high school football on a Friday night.  

Aaron Maybin artist

https://www.southerncultures.org/article/now-we-can-deal-with-the-nuances-of-who-we-are/

https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/get-in-the-game/