CLOCKWISE TOP LEFT: GABRIEL OROZCO, PING POND TABLE, 1998; MAURIZIO CATTELAN, STADIUM, 1991; HANK WILLIS THOMAS, GUERNICA, 2016; HOLLY BASS, NWBA (JORDAN) 2012; CATHERINE OPIE, DIANA, 2012; JENIFER K WOFFORD, VMD, 2024
Now on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture. The exhibition explores the powerful influence of sport in our culture, and is the museum’s most expansive presentation dedicated to a subject with more than 200 artworks that include paintings, sculptures, photographs, design objects — together with sports gear, gaming and apparel — by some of today’s most influential artists.
The exhibition is organized around five key themes that look at the intersection of visual art, sports, and design from multiple perspectives: Mind and Body, Winning and Losing, A Fan’s Life, Breaking Records, and Rules and Field of Play. Among the more than 70 artists featured in the exhibition are Emma Amos, Ernie Barnes, Kevin Beasley, Karla Diaz, Derek Fordjour, Jeffrey Gibson, Michael Jang, Ivan Salcido, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Catherine Opie, Paul Pfeiffer, Cheryl Pope, Robert Pruitt, Ben Sakoguchi, William Scott, Joan Semmel, Gary Simmons, Tabitha Soren and Hank Willis Thomas.
SAM MCKINNISS, AMERIQUEST FIELD IN ARLINGTON, TX, SEPT. 3, 2006, 2022
Woven throughout Get in the Game are interactive installations and historical videos that reconsider political and cultural issues through the lens of sports, athleticism, competition, and play. Viewers will encounter artists and designers inspired by athletes advancing conversations about gender, race, and identity, as well as artworks that highlight the remarkable achievements of sports figures such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Colin Kaepernick, Diana Nyad, Venus Williams and Zinedine Zidane.
“Creating exhibitions that are responsive to the happenings in our daily life and position art in dialogue with subjects of relevance, meaning and interest to a broad community is core to SFMOMA’s vision,” said Christopher Bedford, SFMOMA’s Helen and Charles Schwab Director. “Get in the Game perfectly encapsulates this drive, exploring the confluence of culture and sports and the many ways in which they influence each other.”
Upending our expectations of both museums and games, visitors can play with interactive artworks by contemporary artists such as Maurizio Cattelan’s 22-person foosball table, Stadium (1991), and Gabriel Orozco’s Ping Pond Table (1998) above, a four-way ping-pong table with a square pool in place of a net.
Get in the Game features dozens of innovative designs for sports gear, gaming, and fashion, from Formula One racecar steering wheels to a 2022 ensemble from Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton collection. Fans will appreciate the artistry and unforgettable design of Michael Johnson’s gold running shoes and Nike’s original Air Jordan basketball shoes. Reflecting the evolving field of play, the exhibition integrates inclusive designs from recent years, such as the Cheetah Xceed prosthetic running leg, developed by biomedical engineer Van Phillips, himself an amputee.
JULIE MEHRETU, STADIA I, 2004
The exhibition has been designed by fuseproject, a leading design and innovation firm led by Yves Béhar, and brings the visual and emotional exuberance of sports into a museum context and immerses visitors in the thrill of a sporting event. Get in the Game takes over the museum’s entire Floor 7, and fuseproject’s design evokes the feeling of entering a stadium and encourages visitors to discover their own path through the exhibition’s wide range of offerings. Get in the Game is on view through February 18, 2025.
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Photo Credits: Sam McKinniss, Ameriquest Field in Arlington, TX, Sept. 3, 2006, 2022; courtesy the Labora and Hartland Mackie Family Collection; photo: Charles Benton, courtesy David Kordansky Gallery; Gabriel Orozco, Ping Pond Table, 1998; courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery; Hank Willis Thomas, Guernica, 2016; courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; © Hank Willis Thomas; photo: courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Jenifer K Wofford, VMD, 2024 (detail of preparatory rendering); commission SFMOMA; photo: courtesy the artist; © Jenifer K Wofford; Catherine Opie, Diana, 2012; courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London and Seoul; © Catherine Opie; photo courtesy of the artist; Holly Bass NWBA (jordan) 2012; courtesy the artist
All installation views: photo: Matthew Millman, courtesy SFMOMA
