The court at West 4th Street—really West 3rd Street, but called West 4th nonetheless—holds some memories that I will never forget. I still vividly recall playing in the tournament as a teenager and winning the championship in the 16 & under division many, many years ago. That walk back home to the Lower East Side with my trophy in hand was never so magnificent.
Visitors braved the frigid NYC temperatures during NBA All-Star Weekend to view my portion of the Raised Gallery.
West 4th’s history is pretty well documented, so I won’t go into that so much. But, I will say that I was thrilled to be a tiny part of the team that produced Doin It In the Park: Pick-up Basketball NYC, which features some great anecdotes about the world famous court here in New York City. I definitely recommend watching the basketball documentary, which you can learn more about by visiting their website or clicking here.
Suffice it to say, that West 4th is perhaps a cornerstone to the mecca of basketball. So, to have my basketball photography featured on such hallowed grounds was incredibly special. It was even better that I was able to share the exhibition with my good friends (who happen to be the filmmakers of Doin it in the Park) Kevin Couliau and Bobbito “Kool Bob Love” Garcia. Curated by another friend of mine, Justin Leonard, the Raised gallery exhibition also featured Adam Lister and New York Sunshine, whose work I saw at a pop up shop in Miami during Art Basel—really incredible art work on and within backboards.
L-R: Kevin Couliau's amazing outdoor basketball work (10 pieces, left/center); Adam Lister's two paintings for the exhibition were incredible; and Bobbito Garcia's (far right) iconic images.
NY Sunshine's backboard artistry featured during the Raised Gallery at West 4th.
The Raised pop up gallery at West 4th was only open for about a day, and it was truly an honor to be included. This will certainly go down as one of my most memorable exhibitions. If you made it out to the event, please drop a line in the comments and tell me what you thought about it. If you didn’t know about it or couldn’t make it, I hope these images can give you a glimpse of what you missed.