DRIBBLE

25.07.24 - 06.10.24

Daniel Batista / Celia Croft / HuskMitNavn / Kate Langrish-Smith / Jules Magistry / MAKIHIROCHI / Sean O’Connor / John Rainey / Didi Rojas / Casey Steffens / Alex Synge / Nathan Walker / Justin Yoon

DRIBBLE is the sixth exhibition in the Naughton Gallery’s sports exhibition series, which began with Get’cha Head in the Game in 2017. Exploring the powerful role of sports in contemporary culture, the exhibition is international in its scope, featuring a range of contemporary artists from Ireland, France, the UK, Denmark, Brazil, Japan, and the United States who incorporate sports and/or sports iconography into their practices.

Opening to coincide with the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, this exhibition tackles topics related to race, gender, politics, sexuality, class, and beyond, with the works on display spanning the sporting world, from tennis and basketball to skateboarding, wing walking, and bodybuilding.

In reference to 2024 being an Olympic year, several of the artists (often playfully) reference the origins of sport and physical culture whilst others embrace the explosion of interest in sport and gym-based activities that we see today. Additional works explore queerness and (toxic) masculinity within sport, iconic sports footwear, and Queen’s University’s own sporting history, while this year’s illustration components highlight tennis prodigy to powerhouse Coco Gauff and basketball team the New York Knicks. In a nod to the Naughton Gallery’s Barbie exhibition from the beginning of 2024, DRIBBLE sees the iconic doll make her return to the gallery as a pro basketballer.

The exhibition’s reading table continues to draw attention to a number of design-focused sports magazines, with regular contributors Victory, SEASON, Racquet, OOF, and SHUKYU being joined by new titles including Thrasher, Pitch, BAGEL, Tennis in Photographs, Sixteen, LOST iN Sweat, SurfGirl, and Popeye’s ‘& Skate’ issue. Other publications on display are the Sport & Society Research Network’s teaching pocketbook series, MAKIHIROCHI’s Sketchy manga series, and A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game by Calum Jacobs.

Artists who have previously exhibited in the gallery’s sports exhibition series include Laura Callaghan, Juno Calypso, Dario Éscobar, Jaime Hernandez, Jiraiya, Rosie McGinn, Dougal McKenzie, Alasdair McLellan, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Sara Perovic, Paul Pfeiffer, Cheryl Pope, Hank Willis Thomas, Tom of Finland, and Harumi Yamaguchi.