These posters belong to a series depicting major-league basketball stars in advertisements for Nike athletic shoes, Jeff Koons decided to frame and exhibit them as part of his 1985 show Equilibrium in New York (above).
"Nike conjures a dream, one that the superstars of the NBA embody for millions of people, particularly young black men. The conceits of the posters define this dream in terms of oddly traditional roles and references: Moses Malone is Moses, parting a sea of basketballs, a small group of players form The Dynasty in 34th Street; and a larger, formally posed gathering sitting in suits and ties at a long table on a basketball court is dubbed The Board Room. Koons’ choices foreground the way that these almost exclusively black athletes are cast not just as stars, but in roles whose claim to power and respect reflects a traditional social system that in fact denies power or respect to most African-Americans."
EDIT: These posters are not by Jeff Koons, they were just selected by him
7 comments:
Good find man. These ads are serious.
mate, check out Jeff Koons book: http://tiny.cc/1zekE incredible
Where is this exhibition in NY and when does it run?
appreciated post . . .
and the exhibition was in "1985"
but the first picture of the balls in the tank was at the tate modern at some point not sure if its still there tho . . .
baad
wicked post
These Ad's are over serious! My favourite blog postage of the week...good good find Xx
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