Yarrow Slaps' Distorted Celebrity Portraits Take Center Stage in New Video Game-Inspired Show
Choose your character – from Allen Iverson to Nipsey Hussle.
Whaam! Gallery is gearing up to open SPORTS, a showcase of paintings by San Francisco-based artist Yarrow Slaps. In this body of work, Slaps pulls autobiographical memories and merges them with the figures of icons across various arenas of pop culture – sports, music, books and video games – forging an electric visual landscape that is both personally and collectively resonant.
Inspired by the “create a player” mode in video games, the artist delves into the complexities of identity and selfhood, crafting characters who exist somewhere between the “mortal and divine.” In this world, Slaps captures the likes of legends, such as Lisa Leslie, Nipsey Hussle and Allen Iverson, many of which are framed by a hand-painted character select screen equipped with cheeky player stats and their own arsenal of “accessories.”
From the Iverson-clad cover art for the NBA 2K3, Playstation 2 game to the canvas-based exhibition title, the artist evokes an alluring strangeness in this realm of elongated limbs and off-kilter proportions. “It’s hard to tell whether these anatomical oddities are the result of Slaps’ style or if they are faithful representations of characters who are, both literally and metaphorically, larger than life,” the gallery wrote in a recent statement.
SPORTS opens today and will be on view until February 22, 2025.
Whaam! Gallery
15 Elizabeth St # 113,
New York, NY 10013
