KAWS x NIKE: stanton street courts transformed as part of ‘new york made’ initiative

NIKE has collaborated with artist and designer KAWS to drench new york’s stanton street basketball courts in color. the mural is part of the wider ‘new york made’ project, celebrating the opening of NIKE’s new five storey SoHo store.

the installation is part of the wider ‘new york made’ project

NIKE’s ‘new york made’ campaign sees the worldwide athletic brand work alongside NYC’s parks and recreation department to set in motion a number of city-wide events and installations honoring the city, and the iconic brand’s new york roots. ‘new york made:stanton street courts’ is the first in the series, and features a collaboration with popular artist KAWS as he transforms the stanton street courts with a vast, floor-wide mural. the completion of the piece coincides with the opening of NIKE’s new digitally connected, 55,000 square foot store in SoHo.

the completion of the piece coincides with the opening of NIKE’s 55,000 square foot store in SoHo.

brooklyn-based brian donnelly (KAWS) designed the mural to embody NIKE’s dedication to athleticism, community, culture and collaboration. ‘I always think about when I was young and the things I had interaction with, whether it was skateboard graphics or magazines, and how art reached me. I’ve been conscious of how my work disseminates and reaches people. It could be a canvas in a museum…or it could be a court, a wall or a t-shirt,’ says KAWS. ‘I like the idea of public art because it reaches people in a casual way, and when they aren’t necessarily looking for it.’

the mural aims to embody NIKE’s dedication to athleticism, community, culture and collaboration

the mural takes is a pastiche of coloured shapes and lines, intersecting and contrasting across the court. in the foreground, two elmo-inspired silhouettes face off against each other — not dissimilar to KAWS’ elmo/cookie monster ‘BFF’ design — featuring donnelly’s trademark crossed out eyes motif. the artist explains that his approach to working on the larger scale court was in practice similar to the one he takes on more conventional, canvas-based projects. what changes is the relationship between court and player — the fact that this would be an interactive work was forefront in his mind: ‘I wanted to find the sweet spot where it works visually and functionally — how it’s broken up by the game’s lines and works with my images. it will have an intimate effect on the players that use the court.’

the fact that this would be an interactive work was forefront in donnelly’s mind

KAWS has a longstanding relationship with the iconic sportswear brand

donnelly is brooklyn-based, but originally hails from new jersey 

the mural is a first in a series of city-wide initiatives to celebrate the opening of NIKE’s new location