ALBANY, New York — More than a few associations come to mind with Kevin Beasley’s “Rose” (2017). The installation includes several copies of NBA player Derrick Rose’s New York Knicks jersey set in resin, appearing as if game-used and sweat-soaked, mounted on ridged foam board that creates a rippling effect. There is his name, which recalls the prized flower as well as the motion of rising above, as well as the specifics of Rose’s story: a prodigiously talented young athlete, his promising career was hindered by unfortunate injuries and bad decisions. And, considering his single disappointing year with the Knicks, the artwork also calls to mind clearance racks at sports store, a reminder of how sports can commodify and dispose of so much youth and talent.
“Sports” as a concept is an ethnographic wonderland, a nexus of commerce, spectacle, and relationships both personal and social. An exhibition at the University Art Museum at the University at Albany/SUNY offers a range of ways into it through the works of 15 artists. Each work in ACE: Art on Sports, Promise, and Selfhood considers the cultures of sport and physical fitness as not just games and entertainment, but modes of expression that encompass striving toward goals, hard work, and clear — if often unfair — terms of success and failure.
