backstory: It’s sporting
First, yay Knicks!
Then, the art world and professional sports don’t often overlap, but here’s a connection we thought was kind of interesting.
ARTS 14C, in partnership with the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York New Jersey Host Committee, commissioned twenty-three internationally-acclaimed artists to reimagine and design six-foot soccer ball public art sculptures spanning both states.
Three of those artists have really special resonance for us here at the Neuberger: Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Hank Willis Thomas, and Fred Wilson. We’ve shown work by each here at the Museum, and, also, each has been featured as a visiting artist lecturer for the Neuberger Museum of Art’s annual Yaseen Lecture Series.
We’re always excited to see the ways in which our artist colleagues share the importance of art with various communities!
I asked our curatorial assistant, Rem Ribeiro, to not only give you some info about their World Cup projects, but also about their connection to us. It’s a little lengthier that what you usually find in backstory, but I hope it’s informative…
Edgar Heap of Birds’s “From Sovereign Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation to the World Cup” is aesthetically indicative of the artist’s Neuf (four, in Cheyenne) series, which began in the 1980s. In the artist’s own words, this particular series and aesthetic are “inspired by the cedar tree family and canyon lands. These works are about sovereignty and landscape, and they speak to the issues of homeland and beauty.” Originally a commissioned work as part of the Neuberger Museum of Art’s 1997 Public Art Biennial, “Reclaim,” part of the Museum’s collection, is a public sculpture that can be found on the West Loop of campus, just before the West 1 Lot.
Hank Willis Thomas’s “Goooooooaaaaal” points to the artist’s continued interest in highlighting perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture in art. Alongside his own body of work tied to social justice and activism, the artist is also a co-founder of For Freedoms, alongside Assistant Professor of Photography at SUNY Purchase Eric Gottesman. In 2021, the project “ConnectiveCollective” featured a collaborative effort between the Museum, For Freedoms, and the Purchase College Center for Engagement. The interactive exhibition included aspects such as a student town hall, posters spread across campus, artist talks, a panel discussion, and various art installations and activations, focusing on “the various ways art can shape the world we live in through critical imagination and civic participation.”
Fred Wilson’s “Zygotes,” referencing the initial stage of cell formation, speaks to the artist’s blown-glass drip sculptures, first conceived in 2001. For Wilson, these forms offer the suggestion of liquids akin to ink, blood, oil, and tar, holding multiple connotations. Fred Wilson received his BFA from SUNY Purchase in the inaugural class of 1976, and has had a long-standing history with the Museum, including his 2017 solo exhibition, “Fred Wilson,” featuring the artist’s body of work from 1995 to 2017, and engaging with the Museum’s collection. In his own words, “Objects have various lives and these lives are formed by the context that they’re in. Where they’re moved to can change their meaning… My goal is to tease out other ways of looking at and viewing the objects, and see what that elicits.”
Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art
