The Blazers season may have ended, but basketball knows no bounds in Portland, Oregon. The Athletic Community, a PDX-based boutique, and Double Scribble, a blog focused on basketball art, are teaming up for an exhibition titled 5 on 5, debuting this Friday, May 5, in yes, you guessed it, Portland. The show is a celebration of art and basketball; two universal pastimes that have more in common than what meets the eye as well as a talented community driving their coalescence. The Portland event is the fourth, in as many different cities, which lead organizer, Nick Kastner, hopes to continue.
This Friday
The grand opening event will run from 5 to 10 p.m. at The Athletic Community and is free to the public. Things to look forward to? Hand printed posters (available on opening night only) at $40 a pop, hosted drinks, meet the artists and other like-minded basketball fans and creatives, and witness the unveiling of Matt Hollister’s one-of-one mural for The Athletic Community.
The artists
Hollister, a Seattle-based artist, has been making basketball art, since, well, forever. “The only two things I’ve ever really done with myself are play basketball and draw pictures,” said Hollister. “I remember trying to draw my own NBA posters in my room as a kid. In sixth grade I drew a life-size portrait of Muggsy Bogues by taping a roll of paper to my bedroom door.”
Recently he’s been making drawings of sports card abstractions. “When Jeremy and Nick approached me to participate in the 5 on 5 Show, and paint a mural in The Athletic, I was immediately on board,” said Hollister. And it’s no wonder they selected Hollister for the part, his work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Ringer and The Undefeated. He’s also worked on campaigns with both Adidas and Nike.
Additional artists to be featured at the 5 on 5 exhibit include, Chelsey Boehnke, Madison Bond, Will Bryant, Tim Cook, Aaron Dana, Chris Edser, Robb Harskamp, N.J. Lee, Nathan McKee and Elias Stein. All bringing a unique approach to their work, and all, obviously, lovers of the great game.
Nathan McKee, a Portland native, has a background in screen printing and stencils. And he’s employing a combination of these techniques to his basketball themed art. “Now I work mostly with paper where I use the same approach of layering shapes and colors to create events of the past as well as images that inspire me,” said McKee.
So what inspires him? McKee noted his favorite NBA players were Rasheed Wallace, Magic Johnson and Allen Iverson, though Boogie’s stock is “really rising.” Being a Trail Blazers fan he enjoyed both Brandon Roy and Damian Lillard’s game winners against the Houston Rockets. “Michael Jordan’s shrug against Portland, too,” McKee mentioned. “I mean the whole setting was incredible and has now become known worldwide.”
Aaron Dana, another featured artist, is no stranger to the 5 on 5 exhibit. Dana, a longtime Double Scribble contributor, painted the mural for the show in Boston a few years back. “I have a lot of love for Portland and their basketball community,” said Dana. “I’m excited to come out and meet people.”
Dana’s been making basketball-inspired art professionally for about five years, but recreationally for about 30. His work is primarily centered around portraiture and figure drawing. “As a kid, I wanted to be a comic book artist,” Dana confesses. “Then I realized I didn’t want to draw the same characters again and again. That background in comics still heavily influences my artistic style, which makes sense – athletes are the closest thing that we have in real life to superheroes.” His favorite superhero? Reggie Lewis. A Celtics fan, Dana notes Larry Bird winning the 3-point contest with his warmup jacket on as iconic.
Art and basketball, both notable activities for building community, helped to build this community abroad, too. Chris Edser hails from Australia. Edser recently spent time in the United States, including a stop in Portland, where he connected with event organizers Nick Kastner and Ananth Pandian, as well as other artists featured in the show, Chelsey Boehnke and Nathan McKee. “By the end of the trip I was thinking of moving to Portland,” Edser admits. “It’s quite excellent there.”
Edser was in the crowd for the “Have A Happy Summer” Nurkić game as the Blazers made their run playoffs and was instantly inspired. Attend the opening night of 5 on 5 and you’ll be able to snag a hand pressed print of his Jusuf Nurkić illustration.
A Celebration of Art and Basketball
Attendees can expect to see these moments and players emblematized at 5 on 5 this Friday. The artwork will also be available online at Double Scribble, the blog that’s brought all of these fine artists together.
Started in 2011 as Kastner’s creative outlet to keep him occupied through unemployment, Double Scribble has become a staple in basketball, art and basketball art communities. The blog has profiled work from hundreds of artists across the globe. What to expect when you log on to Double Scribble? Unique, authentic and honest art. “Double Scribble has definitely posted a lot of realism,” notes Kastner. “But my favorite work is the kind that evokes an emotion not purely based on sentiment.” You’ll be able to preview both styles at 5 on 5.
The future for Double Scribble and 5 on 5 is bright. Kastner’s got a few other projects in the works, including a zine he’s hoping to publish later this year. “The zine will feature only illustrations and the best most recent kind,” noted Kastner. “So if you’ve got some cool work you want to share, send it my way!”
Our suggestion? Head over to The Athletic Community on Friday to get inspired. Who knows, you might go home to create something that lands in Kastner’s zine. You can RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/241527116314499/
Links to all involved:
Organizers
Nick Kastner
Ananth Pandian
The Athletic Community
Artists
Matt Hollister
Chelsey Boehnke
Maddison Bond
Will Bryant
Tim Cook
Aaron Dana
Chris Edser
Robb Harskamp
N.J. Lee
Nathan McKee
Elias Stein
Double Scribble
Broken Press
Interested but can’t make it Friday? The show will run at The Athletic Community for the month of May.
Interested but not in Portland? A reminder that you can snag a print online at Double Scribble. Or, think about bringing 5 on 5 to your city. “The hardest part by far is securing space,” said Kastner. “If we’re able to find willing venues then I imagine more of these will happen.”