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

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

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 Crystal Bridges Museum of Contemporary Art in Bentonville, Arkansas 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 of 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. Read More

Back Dive, 1954, 14 x 11 inch silver gelatin print

Now on view at Danziger Gallery through September 6th is “Sport”, a selection of sports images by Harold Eugene Edgerton, the photographer who is credited with inventing the strobe flash. Edgerton or “Doc” as he was affectionately known, developed an electronic technology which allowed for high-speed photography and captured moments previously unseen by the human eye.

With his new flash Edgerton was able to photographically freeze the action of such things as drops of milk falling into a saucer,  bullets going through everyday objects, and the wing motion of various birds. But he was particularly drawn to capturing the action of sports and sports greats – Bobby Jones’ golf swing; tennis champion Gussie Moran’s serve; Wes Fessler (one of the Buckeyes’ greatest football players) kicking a football. 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 TOP LEFT: SAMUEL FOSSO, MUHAMMAD ALI, ST SEBASTIEN, FROM AFRICAN SPIRITS SERIES, 2008, COLLECTION OF ISABEL STAINOW WILCOX, COURTESY JEAN MARC PATRAS, PARIS; JARED MCGRIFF, THE PRACTICE OF SELF PROTECTION AT ALL TIMES, 2023, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SPINELLO PROJECTS; DANIEL ARSHAM, BLUE CALCITE BOXING SET, 2016, COLLECTION OF LARRY WARSH, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND PERROTIN, PHOTO: GUILLAUME ZICCARELLI; CHASE HALL, CHAMPION, 2023, ©CHASE HALL, PHOTO: JEFF MCLANE, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND DAVID KORDANSKY GALLERY

Opening at the Norton Museum of Art on October 26, 2024 is Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing. The exhibition will be the largest comprehensive survey of artistic representation of boxing in more than 20 years, and features paintings, videos, sculptures, and works on paper by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Edward Hopper, Ed Ruscha, Alison Saar, Derrick Adams, Hernan Bas, Katherine Bradford, and many more.

Spanning from the 1870’s through the present day, the Norton’s one of a kind presentation will illuminate the connections between boxing and society, while underscoring the rich history of the centuries old sport and its participants through all its complexities. The exhibition will explore the global and cultural impact of the sport with themes relating to the body, race and culture, sexuality, and the artist as boxer. 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

FIRST SURFER TINTYPE, LONE SURFER, 8×10, MONTAUK, NEW YORK 2015; BIDART GROUP, 8×10, BIDART, FRANCE; THE FUTURE, 11×14, 2015 SANTA BARBARA, CA.

At The Art Show last month at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC, the work of Joni Sternbach was on view at the Von Lintel Gallery booth. A write up of the show in The New York Times featured a triptych her tintype photographs titled The Women and The Waves. As a fan of surf photography, I hustled over to see the work, and to my delight Sternbach was there as well.

Surfland is an on-going series of tintype portraits of surfers that represent a unique blending of subject matter and photographic technique. Working with a large-format camera, Sternbach has been photographing surfers around the world since 2006 using this antiquated process. Ironically, Sternbach had no intention of photographing surfers – nor does she surf – until they paddled into her frame one day. The project began as an ocean series. Waving them off, she never expected they would become the subject.

Popular in the mid-late 1800’s, a tintype is actually an underexposed negative created on a chemically coated, blackened metal plate in what is called the wet-plate collodion process. When the plate is exposed to light through the camera, an image develops with transparent areas appearing black because of the background. The overall darkness of the image gives the aura of a vintage photograph. Read More

SOHEI NISHINO | MOUNTAIN LINE, MOUNT FUJI, 2022

Now on view at Michael Hoppen Gallery is the newest mountainscape by Sohei Nishino, Mountain Line, Mount Fuji, 2022. It is a follow up his 2019 work to Mountain Lines, Everest, created with his signature technique. Nishino combines photography, collage, and psychogeography to create large scale experiential prints of urban and natural landscapes, constructed with thousands of images.

Drawing inspiration from 18th century Japanese mapmaking, Nishino uses photographs as geographical representation, but with a subjective point of view. From a distance, his maps are almost abstract. Each work is pieced together with images of both people and places, and it is not until we examine closer that the full experience unfolds. (Details below) Read More

BRONZE ERODED BASKETBALL, 2019

Daniel Arsham’s newest “relic”, Bronze Eroded Basketball, was released last week in a limited edition of 99. Arsham is one of the most prominent and influential contemporary artists, with a cult-like following whose new work garners a buzz similar to a hot sneaker drop — and from a similar demographic. Like all of this artist’s work, this cast bronze sculpture of a regulation size basketball sold out within minutes of its release. Read More

ROW 1: GEORGE CONDO, SHEPARD FAIREY, KEHINDE WILEY, KAWS X KROOKED, KEITH HARING, ANDY WARHOL; ROW 2: MARILYN MINTER, ANDY WARHOL, KENNY SCHARF, DAMIEN HIRST, DAMIEN HIRST, JEFF KOONS; ROW 3: NATE LOWMAN, ANDY WARHOL, KEITH HARING, JULES DE BALINCOURT, JOSE PARLA, GEORGE CONDO

 
Andy Warhol to Keith Haring, Jeff Koons to Damien Hirst, George Condo to Shepard Fairey – many of the most important contemporary artists have turned the skateboard deck into their sporty canvas. The parameters of its shape create a unique frame, contained within are works of art that often reference some of these artists most important pieces.

For many of contemporary artists whose work started on the street, and who are often skateboarders themselves, it’s a way to stay connected to their roots. For the blue chip artists at the top of the contemporary art world, says collector and art advisor Glori Cohen, “the skateboard provides a unique cool factor at a low price point — and it’s a really fun way to collect art!” Many of her clients buy these skateboard decks for their children’s rooms. Created in limited editions, it’s real art their kids can relate to, that’s still collectible too.Check out a few of our favorites below:
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TOP: PALIO DI SIENA, ITALY, 2016; AMERICA’S CUP, SAN FRANCISCO, 2013

Now on view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery is “Day to Night”, the second exhibition of works on this theme by photographer Stephen Wilkes. The images represent a visual exploration of an iconic location, photographed from daybreak to nightfall, often capturing an historical event from start to finish: Easter Mass at the Vatican in 2016; the Inauguration of President Obama at the U.S. Capital in 2013; and on our Style of Sport beat, the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris in 2016.

At first glance, what is most obvious in these photographs is the light changing as time progresses from day into night. On closer inspection however, which is mandatory, what you see is everything that happened during that time span, seamlessly compressed – literally — into one image. Taken from a single fixed position, Wilkes selects from hundreds of moments captured, putting together all these slivers of time and what occurred within them, into a single image. For his sport photographs, our point of entry, like the Tour de France mentioned, the famous Palio horse race in Siena, or the America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay – we see the start, middle, and finish of the race all in one view.
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Jeremy Koreski photographs surfing, among other outdoor sports, but he doesn’t take pictures in warm sunny locales. It’s cold, wet, and sometimes snowing where he is, but the subjects in his photographs never seem to mind. They’re too busy having fun. Bundled up and in wetsuits — with hoods, booties and gloves – they’re all smiles taking advantage of the natural playground their surroundings have to offer.

Koreski grew up in Tofino, British Columbia, a town on the west coast of Vancouver Island, about a 1½ hour ferry ride from Vancouver. There wasn’t a whole to do there other than watch TV or play outside. Koreski and his friends opted for the latter. Surrounded by water, surfing and fishing were the activities of choice. At 13 he picked up a camera and started shooting, documenting their outdoor adventures. Koreski still calls Vancouver Island home and his work showcases the lifestyle and culture of the Canadian coast and Pacific Northwest. The landscape is the star of his images, given perspective by the subjects in it.
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RUTH ORKIN IN 1947; THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT PHOTOGRAPHED BY ORKIN IN 1939

In 1939, a 17-year old girl living in California decided to embark on a monumental bike trip across the country. The World’s Fair in New York City was her destination. That girl was award winning photojournalist and filmmaker Ruth Orkin (1921-1985).

Orkin grew up in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, and at the age of 10, received her first camera, a 39¢ Univex. She began by photographing her friends and teachers at school. Obsessed with traveling after three cross country train trips with her family, she took a job as a teenager at a travel agency in 1937. When a pamphlet for American Youth Hostels arrived in the mail one day at work, offering cheap lodging and cooking facilities for travelers journeying by foot or bicycle, the call for adventure was too great to resist.
 

PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY ORKIN AND PAGE FROM THE SCRAPBOOK SHE MADE DOCUMENTING THE 1939 BIKE TRIP. ALL CAPTIONS HANDWRITTEN BY ORKIN

 
At 16, Orkin took her first Youth Hostel trip to San Francisco, and the following year somehow convinced her parents to let her bicycle across the country. Multiple newspapers carried the story of this 17-year old on a cross country tour of U.S. Youth Hostels. While she had actually hitchhiked from LA to Chicago, and then Chicago to New York – equally adventurous and kind of crazy — Orkin later wrote in her book, A Photo Journal, published in 1981, “The bicycling was done while I was sightseeing in each city: Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Boston. I also biked the smaller distances between the four eastern cities and while hosteling through four New England states. All in all I biked a total of 2000 miles during those four months!”
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