Six Raptors players reimagined in unique art exhibit
Posted August 5, 2022 10:11 pm.
“Put it in the Louvre.”
Basketball fans can often be heard uttering that phrase when it comes to a photo taken that captures a stunning moment in the game, whether it be a poster dunk by Precious Achiuwa or an incredible pass by Fred VanVleet. There is beauty and art on the court.
Well, Vanvleet, Achiuwa, and several other Raptors are actually in an art exhibit. On Friday the art installation Awakenings: Dis/MAntle launched at the historic Spadina House in Toronto. It features works by Toronto artist Gordan Shadrach who painted Raptors players and several notable people as abolitionists, community leaders, and descendants of Mrs. Pipkin, a real-life freedom seeker who worked at the historic Spadina House as a laundress.
At the launch of Awakenings: Dis/Mantle. Artist Gordon Shadrach, painted six #Raptors players. In his portraits they are imagined as abolitionists, community leaders and descendants of Mrs. Pipkin, a real-life freedom seeker who worked at the historic Spadina House as a laundress pic.twitter.com/mt1YgxCc0j
— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) August 4, 2022
“The more I paint, especially using a historical lens, the more I learn about history and in particular, Black history,” Shadrach told CityNews. “And I really want to use my art as a place where people can come, see and be inspired and go off and learn more about their history.”
Individual oil painting portraits of Raptors Justin Champagnie, Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn, Precious Achiuwa, and Gary Trent Jr. are featured in various rooms of the home.
“To see them in place here in the house, really embodying a vision that we had with respect to Dis/Mantle. It still takes me a little aback right now… it is breathtaking,” John Wiggins, Raptors Vice President, Organizational Culture and Inclusion told CityNews.
Shadrach doesn’t know the exact timing of how long it took to create the six paintings of the Raptors players because while he was working on those, he was working on 11 other creations simultaneously.
“The complicated part of the project was that when I started this project was at the beginning of phase four of the pandemic in Ontario and we went back into a lockdown. So I didn’t have access to the actual players, I had to use existing photographs that they provided.”
In the living room of the Spadina House, there is one painting that stands 75 x 60 inches and features VanVleet, Achiuwa, helping up Pascal Siakam from the ground titled ‘Scaffold’.
“One of the things that actually inspired this painting is from when I went to a Raptors game for the first time,” Shadrach explained. “One of the things that really stuck out to me was the way players would help each other out. And I knew that a key element of this show was going to be about how Black people lift each other up, how we support each other. Seeing the players interact with each other, not just on their own team, but with the opposing teams, I found there was this real sense of community that I wasn’t expecting among the players. And that really was the seed for how I wanted to move forward with this.”
There was great consideration behind who would be featured in the paintings.
“I was given a list of players to paint, and I think one of the ways they were chosen was some of the players that were still finding their way with getting community involvement,” Shadrach said.
“A lot of our guys are young and for them when they speak about social justice and social impact some say they are not exactly sure how they can get involved or not exactly sure what platform or message they want to say so this helps them be involved in a very natural way for them where they can show up and say, I wanted to have an impact,” Wiggins added.
To learn more about the exhibit or to obtain tickets click here
