Change the game, Frieze, 2022

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Change the game, Frieze 2022 (2022), is based on a basketball court design commissioned by London Lions Basketball Club and the Serpentine Galleries in Tower Hamlets, London, which opened to the public with a community event in October 2022. The court aims to provide a vibrant and free space for children to play, while bringing people together from all walks of life to celebrate the power of sport and art as catalysts for positive community change.

Barrington says of the commission: 

I grew up in New York at a period where basketball was very local, with street courts like Rutger Park and Coney Island acting as training grounds for some of the most important ballers in basketball history with players like Michael Jordan taking the game onto the global stage. As a subject, there is so much history in basketball and an abundance of ideas that I wanted to explore, but ultimately, I ended on the idea of a map that represents both migration and athleticism. Visually, this map draws from a few references, such as British Pop artist Bridget Riley, US ‘Gee’s Bend’ quilt artists Annie Mae Young and Annie Bendolph, and US video artist Arthur Jafa. 

At both ends of the court are two circles that reference the sun rising and setting in two distinct lands. Mountains, valleys, oceans and lakes are reduced to simple shapes. On the sidelines are triangles that stand in for mountains and valleys. Surrounding the court are tyres and chains that for me speak to mobility and athleticism, connecting back to the idea of migration and how, as a subject, it is as relevant today as it has always been.

Born in Venezuela in 1983 to Grenadian and Haitian migrant workers, Alvaro Barrington was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York, by a network of relatives. He says, ‘When you look at my paintings, you’re encountering parts of my identity. I grew up in a culture where it was really about erasing hierarchies, where we’re all participating in cultural production.’ He now lives and works in London, and an unwavering commitment to community informs his wide-ranging practice. His approach to painting is equally inclusive – embracing non-traditional materials and techniques such as burlap, concrete, cardboard and sewing – and infused with references to his personal and cultural history. Influence and exchange are crucial to the artist, who draws upon a host of artistic and cultural references in his work. His resolutely interdisciplinary approach follows in the footsteps of Robert Rauschenberg’s groundbreaking Combines, which he references by incorporating real objects into the picture plane, including tyres, carpets, steel drums, brooms and fans. He is an artist who is continually expanding his constellation of references, inspirations and communities, while always acknowledging the formative role of art history in his practice. While Barrington considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion, philanthropy and contributions to the Notting Hill Carnival in London.

Places

Subjects

sport & outdoor activities, basketball, community, aerial

Materials & Techniques

Artist

Alvaro Barrington (1983 - )

Title

Change the game, Frieze, 2022

Date

2022

Medium

oil and acrylic on canvas in oak and concrete frame, 3 tires

Dimensions

height: 230 cm; width: 240 cm; depth: 24 cm

Provenance

Purchased from the Thaddeus Ropac Gallery, April 2023

GAC number

19168