Flashing the Leather

Art and design have been prevalent throughout the history of baseball, from logo designs to baseball cards to uniforms. 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. Baseball’s long history includes a checkered past of ups and downs, from celebrated historic social justice figures to steroid and sign-stealing scandals. Yet, baseball has been at the epicenter of American culture for nearly 200 years and has permeated cultures around the globe as a form of community building. Flashing the Leather takes a deep dive into baseball’s social underpinnings as told through contemporary artists’ voices, using metaphors, concepts and superstitions from the sport.

Flashing the Leather is part of the Guest Curator Program at Alabama Contemporary. Aaron Levi Garvey is a Jewish-American curator working in contemporary arts and culture and is the inaugural Janet L. Nolan Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts at Auburn University. Recent exhibitions and projects include: The Hudson Eye a 10-day and 27-venue arts and humanities focused program in Hudson, New York; and the co-founding and directing of Long Road Projects Foundation, an organization which focuses on supporting artists with residency, edition publishing and exhibition opportunities. Garvey has forthcoming exhibitions and programs opening at Untitled Art in Miami during fair week and the Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.