Tag: football

Ernie Barnes at 55 Walker

An artist from his childhood and an NFL player for five years in the early 60s, late painter Ernie Barnes merged his talents in the visual arts and sports to create the powerful paintings now on view at 55 Walker in Tribeca.  Barnes saw body language and movement on the field in visual terms, using time outs to sketch the game’s lines and shapes on paper.  Here, three towering figures are no less dynamic for standing still; crowding together with oversized elbows and hands, they convey the danger of contact sports.  (On view in Tribeca through Oct 30th.  Masks required).

Ernie Barnes, Blood Conference aka Three Red Linemen, acrylic on canvas, 1966.

Melvin Edwards in ‘Sidelined’ at Galerie Lelong

As a young man, Melvin Edwards chose a career in art over football, but explains that the physicality of the sport remained in his sculpture.  He explores a more critical consideration of the game in Goal Line Stance, a steel sculpture from 2017 that stands out in Galerie Lelong’s current show – an exhibition prompted by NFL players’ protests against social injustice (On view through Feb 17th in Chelsea).

Melvin Edwards, Goal Line Stance, 2017, welded steel, 15.25 x 11.5 x 14.5 inches, 2017.

Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Netherlands and Benin-based artist Meschac Gaba’s first solo show in the US includes these gaming tables, handmade in Benin, that allow visitors to take geopolitics into their own hands…at least as represented by foosball. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through June 7th).

Meschac Gaba, installation view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (upstairs), May 2014.