Whaam! Gallery is gearing as much as open SPORTS, a showcase of work by San Francisco-based artist Yarrow Slaps. On this physique of labor, Slaps pulls autobiographical reminiscences and merges them with the figures of icons throughout numerous arenas of popular culture – sports activities, music, books and video video games – forging an electrical visible panorama that’s each personally and collectively resonant.
Impressed by the “create a participant” mode in video video games, the artist delves into the complexities of identification and selfhood, crafting characters who exist someplace between the “mortal and divine.” On this world, Slaps captures the likes of legends, corresponding to Lisa Leslie, Nipsey Hussle and Allen Iverson, lots of that are framed by a hand-painted character choose display screen geared up with cheeky participant stats and their very own arsenal of “equipment.”
From the Iverson-clad cowl artwork for the NBA 2K3, Ps 2 recreation to the canvas-based exhibition title, the artist evokes an alluring strangeness on this realm of elongated limbs and off-kilter proportions. “It’s laborious to inform whether or not these anatomical oddities are the results of Slaps’ model or if they’re trustworthy representations of characters who’re, each actually and metaphorically, bigger than life,” the gallery wrote in a latest assertion.
SPORTS opens in the present day and shall be on view till February 22, 2025.
Whaam! Gallery
15 Elizabeth St # 113,
New York, NY 10013
