HOME & AWAY: Selections from Common Practice

HOME!&!AWAY SELECTIONS!FROM!COMMON!PRACTICE

HOME!&!AWAY SELECTIONS!FROM!COMMON!PRACTICE

Curated by John Dennis, Dan Peterson and Carlos Rolón

525 West 22nd Street New York NY 10011

511 West 22nd Street New York NY 10011

520 West 21st Street New York NY 10011

ALEXANDRE ARRECHEA HOLLY BASS KATHERINE BERNHARDT DAN COLEN ERIC HAZE PAULA HENDERSON DAVID HUFFMAN TITUS KAPHAR TOMOKAZU MATSUYAMA CARLOS ROLÓN ASHLEY TEAMER NARI WARD WENDY WHITE JONAS WOOD

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HOME & AWAY SELECTIONS!FROM!COMMON!PRACTICE

By John Dennis

Like art, basketball has become a conduit for so many things beyond its intended purpose. Both are self evident languages in their own right. There are other sports likely more popular, yet none as influential as basketball from a cultural standpoint. It transcends barriers in music, fashion, art, and other arteries of pop culture, not to mention its ability to aid and draw a!ention to pressing issues in the social and political arena.

Art has the capacity to function in similar ways. Perhaps involuntarily, both have become unlikely mediums for prompting social impact on a grander scale, offering voices to the voiceless, and visibility to the unseen. In this moment, it is clear that the world is divided, maybe more so now than ever. Yet in many ways, we are also more connected.

As if by design, one opposing thing necessitates its counterpart in what feels to be an incessant and infinite cycle.

There was, according to Heraclitus, a continual war of opposites. He posited that every element had an opposite, or was connected to an opposite (water is cold, fire is hot). Thus, the material world was said to be composed of an infinite, boundless apeiron from which arose the elements and pairs of opposites.

—From the ancient/pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, 535 - 475 BC HOME & AWAY both embodies and contradicts this philosophy in order to establish a shared space—a space where a figurative home and away are both one and the same.

The exhibition provides a window into the lesser-known meeting point between contemporary art and the sport (and surrounding culture) of basketball. A love story, as it were. The title itself employs words most notably found on scoreboards at sporting events around the world, where opposing groups of people come together in one shared space. By repositioning these words, our intent is to break the mold and pres-

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ent them in the context of unity and togetherness, and to detach from ideas incidental to competition. For artists, home and away also nods to the safe haven of a studio or creative space, while many ball players consider the park, gym, or backyard hoop their place of solace. In this context, the exhibition serves to offer refuge and sanctuary to any and all.

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The exhibition draws influence directly from the pages of Common Practice: Basketball and Contemporary Art—the first comprehensive illustrated publication to contemplate the relationship between art and basketball. Motivated by highlighting connective tissue between these two worlds, HOME!&!AWAY#derives from the same DNA. The (book) editing process reinforced two ideas: first, that there is undeniable power in creativity. Second, that no change has ever come from a place of contentment.

As artists and as people, we must actively work towards the world we wish to exist.

Throughout their respective practices, many of the artists in the book, and by extension the HOME!&!AWAY exhibition, have done just that, responding with purpose to the challenges of the world in their own unique ways.

HOME! &! AWAY explores themes of identity, culture, displacement, and sheer love through the lens of basketball-related artwork. Its relevancy is heightened by an inherent alliance with the social, cultural, and political changes happening worldwide.

The exhibition features the works of fourteen multidisciplinary artists who have utilized basketball iconography at certain points throughout the course of their practices: Alexandre Arrechea, Holly Bass, Katherine Bernhardt, Dan Colen, Eric Haze, Paula Henderson, David Huffman, Titus Kaphar, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Carlos Rolón, Ashley Teamer, Nari Ward, Wendy White, and Jonas Wood. Through various mediums, these artists and their works add to the development of a new discourse by deepening the connection between two of the world’s most loved and celebrated mediums. While the powers that be have upheld the division of people as a global paradigm, one thing is for certain: we are one if and when we choose to join together... and there is unity in opposition.

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ALEXANDRE!ARRECHEA SWEAT, 2021 UV Ink and Gold Leaf on wood 26 x 48 x 1 1⁄2 inches 66 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm

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ALEXANDRE!ARRECHEA Between Grass and Sky, 2021

UV ink on wood, gold leaf 24 x 45 x 1 1⁄2 inches 61 x 114.3 x 3.8 cm

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HOLLY!BASS NWBA #1 (Jordan), 2012

Archival pigment print on photo paper 39 x 27 inches 99.1 x 68.6 cm Edition 4 of 7

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KATHERINE!BERNHARDT Washington Square Park, 2021

Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 78 x 72 inches 198.1 x 182.9 cm

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DAN!COLEN Untitled, 1999

Acrylic on paper 11 3⁄4 x 10 inches 29.8 x 25.4 cm

DAN!COLEN Untitled, 1999

Acrylic on paper 11 3⁄4 x 10 inches 29.8 x 25.4 cm

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ERIC!HAZE Hoop Dreams, 2021

Acrylic on canvas 48 x 48 inches 121.9 x 121.9 cm

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PAULA!HENDERSON Court: Be Mine, 2007

Oil and wax on canvas 48 x 60 inches 121.9 x 152.4 cm

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DAVID!HUFFMAN Intercessor, 2016

Acrylic, spray paint and gli&er on mixed ground on canvas 72 x 60 inches 182.9 x 152.4 cm

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TOMOKAZU!MATSUYAMA Bustin' Action Minority, 2021

Acrylic and mixed media on canvas 54 inches, diameter 137.2 cm, diameter

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CARLOS!ROLÓN Untitled (I Love You), 2020

Repurposed carpet, found basketball backboard, ceramic mirror, glass, artificial vegetation and gold leaf on wood 63 1⁄2 x 47 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 inches 161.3 x 120.7 x 36.8 cm

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ASHLEY!TEAMER Karen Gibson (Dillard University), 2019

Acrylic, flashe and latex paint over inkjet print on shaped plywood 26 x 20 1⁄2 inches 66 x 52.1 cm

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NARI!WARD Courtship Replay R. V., 2011–2019

Durag, peacock feather, stencil ink, krink marker, basketball trading cards, and collaged basketball mounted on aluminum 42 x 30 inches 106.7 x 76.2 cm

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WENDY!WHITE Rain Cloud (Pleasure!), 2016

Acrylic on canvas, hand painted rope 60 x 60 inches 152.4 x 152.4 cm

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JONAS!WOOD CBB9, 2021 Oil on cardboard 12 x 10 inches 30.5 x 25.4 cm

Published on the occasion of the exhibition

HOME & AWAY: SELECTIONS FROM COMMON PRACTICE CURATED BY JOHN DENNIS, DAN PETERSON AND CARLOS ROLÓN 4 August – 27 August 2021 Miles McEnery Gallery 520 West 21st Street New York NY 10011 Publication © 2021 Miles McEnery Gallery All rights reserved Introduction © 2021 John Dennis Director of Publications Anastasija Jevtovic, New York, NY Photography by Elisabeth Bernstein, New York, NY Christopher Burke Studio, New York, NY John Wilson White, San Francisco, CA Image Credits Pages 11 – 13: Image courtesy of the artist Page 15: Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Shimon and Tammar Rothstein Page 17: Image courtesy of the artist and Canada Gallery Page 19: © Dan Colen. Courtesy Dan Colen Studio Pages 21 - 25: Image courtesy of the artist Page 27: Courtesy of Tomokazu Matsuyama Studio Page 29: Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, New York Page 31: Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Dan Bradica Page 33: Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul Page 35: Image courtesy of the artist Page 37: Image courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY. Photo: Marten Elder ISBN: 978-1-949327-56-4 Cover: Wendy White, Rain Cloud (Pleasure!), (detail), 2026