David Hammons creates new meanings for ordinary objects by reworking or creating new relationahips between these objects. This drawing epitomizes Hammons' larger body of work, responding to his personal history as an African-American as well as a larger social critique of race and racial stereotypes, such as the stereotype of the African-American male's relationship to the game of basketball. He sees the current status of the sport as both an exploitation of young black men as well as an integral part of urban street culture. Here, the basketball itself becomes the drawing tool. The artist applies graphite to the ball and then bounces it on the paper or on the floor so it will strike the paper as it bounces. The imprint "NBA" or other sports logos on the ball serves as a "watermark" on the resulting abstract image. This work is placed 10 feet high, the height of a regulation basketball goal, and is lifted from the wall at its base by a book, signifying the heightened status of the game over that of education.
Source: News, April May June, 2009.
Sheet: 42 3/4 × 29 3/8 in. (108.6 × 74.6 cm)
Other (book): 8 1/2 × 6 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (21.6 × 17.1 × 3.8 cm)
Images (1)
Audio (1)
David Hammons (American, born 1943)
Untitled (Basketball Drawing), 2004
Run Time: 1:44
Recorded by Brett Niederhauser, Director of Security and Visitor Experience / May 2020
Hello, my name is Brett Niederhauser, Director of Security and Visitor Experience here at the Des Moines Art Center. This “Untitled” piece, known as Basketball Drawing by David Hammons, has always captured my attention and is my personal favorite piece of our permanent collections.
At first glance, the viewer of this piece may not notice the distinctive imprint the object covered in graphite is making on the paper. After closer observation, it becomes apparent a basketball was used to apply the graphite, creating a unique work combining the arts and athletics—a marriage of topics seldom found together in traditional museum settings. Perhaps even more interesting, just out of eyesight and behind the lower part of the frame, rests a found copy of Albert Einstein in His Own Words. I find it fascinating that we now have an exceptional work combining the arts, athletics, and academia all in one and all aspects inspiring their own set of questions and curiosities.
David Hammons has long been producing works that reinforce his reputation as one of the most relevant and influential living American artists. His works, varying in all kinds of forms, have contributed to an ongoing discussion about the role of the artist and the value of art outside the walls of traditional museums and galleries. He is passionate about his standing as a cultural outsider and his works pointedly highlight the clichés of growing up African American in the US. This concept is clearly at work in this piece, too, as he challenges the nearly impossible ambition of becoming a professional athlete society too often places upon African Americans.
