STYLE of SPORT | Gear & Apparel Curated for the Stylish Sports Enthusiast

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 Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) in Miami, Florida is Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture. Organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the exhibition explores the powerful influence of sport in our culture with an expansive presentation that includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, design objects by some of today’s most influential artists.

Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture explores the dynamic interplay between athletic performance and artistic expression. Coinciding with major international sporting events taking place in Miami — the Miami Open, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and the FIFA World Cup —  the exhibition positions PAMM as a site where global audiences converge to reflect on the cultural impact of sport. 

Featuring more than 100 works by artists from around the world—including highlights from PAMM’s collection—Get in the Game demonstrates how sport has inspired both personal expression and shared cultural memory. Among the artists featured in the exhibition are Emma Amos, Ernie Barnes, Kevin Beasley, Karla Diaz, Derek Fordjour, Jeffrey Gibson, Michael Jang, Ivan Salcido, Catherine Opie, Paul Pfeiffer, Robert Pruitt, Ben Sakoguchi, William Scott, Joan Semmel, Gary Simmons, Tabitha Soren, Virgil Abloh, Álvaro Barrington, Thom Browne, Reggie Burrows Hodges, Gabriel Orozco, Grace Rosario Perkins, Paul Pfeiffer, Cheryl Pope, Ronny Quevedo, Jean Shin, Yinka Shonibare, Felandus Thames, Hank Willis Thomas, Jake Troyli, and many more!
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Photo: Steven Probert

Recently exhibited at the Independent Art Fair 2025 was a focused selection of works by Ernie Barnes, presented by Ortuzar gallery. Spanning five decades, the presentation highlighted the sports scenes that are at the heart of his oeuvre, ranging from football, baseball, to track and field.

Barnes began painting sports narratives in the late 1950s, drawing on his own background as a professional athlete in the American Football League (AFL) to depict the body in motion. In his autobiography, From Pads to Palette, Barnes recalls sketching in his playbook during team meetings, often raising the ire of his coaches for drawing instead of paying attention.
 

The Competitive Spirit, 2005; Hitting the Tape, 2005

It was when someone bought one of those sketches that Barnes realized being an artist was a better career choice. Reflecting on his firsthand experience, Barnes sought “to tell a real truth of what it feels like to get hit, to hit, to run, to turn, to backpedal.” In the mid-1960s, Barnes retired from professional sports and turned fully to painting. During this period, he exhibited new work and became the official artist of the AFL. Read More

RUTH ORKIN | COUPLE IN MG, FLORENCE, 1951 | CAVALIER GALLERIES

The Photography Show Presented by AIPAD is the longest-running fair dedicated to photography in the world. Held annually at the landmark Park Avenue Armory on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the show presents exhibitors from around the globe, showcasing an exciting and diverse mix of photographic works. In addition, the event features educational programming, artist talks, and cultural activations.

The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) was organized in 1979. With members in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan, the Association has become a unifying force in the field of photography.

Though the 2025 show is now closed, the photographs exhibited are still available at their respective galleries. Presented below are our sport inspired favorites: Read More

From top: Sperm whale, Domenica; Mother and baby sperm whale below in Dominica; Their whales tails

“When the guide spots the whales you are dropped in their path no less than three hundred feet away. They will often swim with in ten feet of you if they do not feel threatened.”

 
I’ve known Brad Roaman since we were kids in high school, growing up in New York City. He has always been an avid sailor, sharing his love of the water on his boat with his friends, myself included, from above the surface. When he recently showed me these images of whales he had photographed below the surface, I was mesmerized. Brad is a fashion photographer, and I was familiar with that body of work, but for me this was a whole different level in a whole new environment.

Brad began shooting what he calls “Waterscapes” about a year ago. It began with him photographing his son and friends jumping off the boat from the water. He was shooting on his phone, trying to stay afloat with one hand, and taking pictures with the other. His perspective was just below the surface, water filling different parts of the frame from below. “The beauty of the water”, he told me, “is you never know what you’re going to get, how the water is going to frame the foreground and people in the background”. Read More

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: HORNES NEST, 2016, ARTO SAARI; RAY BARBEE, POOLTOWN, 2012, ARTO SAARI; RUNE GLIFBERG, 2015, ARTO SAARI

Now on view through September 2024 at the Aalto2 Museum Centre in Jyväskylä, Finland is The Pool – The Origin of Pool Skateboarding, a series of four exhibitions that explore the pool design of legendary Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and its intersection with international skateboarding culture, as well as rap and hip-hop culture.

Three exhibitions focus on skateboarding, and the theme of the kidney-shaped design of the swimming pool at Aalto’s Villa Mairea that influenced Southern California pool design and skateboard culture. The fourth exhibition delves into the history of Finnish rap and the significant role of Central Finland in shaping the nation’s hip-hop culture.

Aalto2 Museum Centre is a unique meeting place of architecture, design and cultural heritage in the heart of Central Finland, and fulfills Alvar Aalto’s desire to create a forum to bring together a variety of art forms. It combines two buildings designed by Aalto: the Museum of Central Finland and the Alvar Aalto Museum. Read More