Calendar

Flashing the Leather (a baseball term used to admiringly describe a dexterous defensive play) explores baseball as a point of artistic reference and inspiration over the decades, focusing particularly on the period from the infamous baseball strike of 1994 to the present day. This exhibition highlights works of art that address the rituals and concepts within baseball and baseball history, archetypes and superstitions unique to the game and the use of baseball objects as an artist’s medium.

Inspired by Ben Vereen's 1981 tribute performance to the great black vaudevillian Bert Williams at the Reagan inaugural gala, Surplus in Pantomime contextualizes abstraction in the broader conversation of black identity. Curated by Y. Malik Jalal, this exhibition shines a light on five black artists working in, and through abstraction.

Join us on Thursday, August 4, for a discussion led by Aaron Levi Garvey. Garvey is the curator for the current exhibition Flashing the Leather, which through the work of multiple artists, takes a deep dive into baseball’s social underpinnings, using metaphors, concepts and superstitions from the sport.

The Lost Cause merges art history and contemporary imagery to construct an alternate reality, critiquing representations of race, masculinity and ultimately exploring “history” as a malleable and inherently creative enterprise. The work reimagines symbols and elements of history and imbues them with a new mythology replete with iconography that subverts white male gaze. 

Start your Artwalk at Alabama Contemporary! We’ll open Brandon Dean’s new exhibition, The Lost Cause, with an artist talk at 6 p.m. and sling drinks and Wild Things Ball tickets all night.