For two days in December, Second Spectrum curated Athletic Aesthetic: a pop-up gallery meant to explore the visual interpretations of sports and art, including their shared impact and presence in everyday culture.
Over 200 people came out to the exhibit in Little Tokyo, including NBA team executives, sports broadcasters and top creative directors. Many took to social media to share their opinions about the event.
“Awesome art by awesome people,” said gallery guest and ESPN reporter Amin Elhassan.
“What a truly exciting, gorgeous exhibit! I wish everyone who loves basketball and art could see the amazing thing you and your group have put together!” said contributing writer Yago Colas, who currently teaches a course at the University of Michigan called “Cultures of Basketball.”
The gallery was initially conceived as a showcase for Second Spectrum’s experiments and published work on outlets such as ESPN, NBA, and FOX Sports. But after exploring some of the local talent that inspired our own work, we opened the gallery up to any contributors who wanted to be involved.
The response was incredible as basketball has become a popular subject of study for artists. Second Spectrum’s creative team curated a range of basketball-themed art, including woodwork, ceramics, graphic design, literature, photography and paintings.
Many of the artists were finalizing pieces just days before the event , which meant Second Spectrum had to get creative in planning the space layout without much artwork in hand. Motion graphic designer Hannah Kim created a true-to-size mockup of the space using modeling software. Photos of each piece of art were mapped onto primitive 3d objects, while keeping in mind the overall aesthetic and space layout.
“Overall, the gallery successfully allowed us more exposure within the art and design community,” Second Spectrum motion and graphic designer Hannah Kim said. “It was a great introduction for more relationships and exposure for both our creative team and the company as a whole, because we value the importance of design within the world of tech and data.”
For more information on the event, including a full list of contributors, visit Athletic Aesthetic.