Michael Thorpe’s exhibition Bar Stool Sports takes its name from an online content creator who makes memes about sports. It’s a jocular jab at jocks and Thorpe plays on its cultural popularity. Boston is home to several championship teams so the subject matter seems apt. Thorpe is a fan of sports, particularly basketball, and has created an installation in the gallery with the addition of basketballs and footballs. These objects are presumably sculpture, but also effective as an extension to the soft-edge, stitched, and tapestry-like hangings around them.
The fandom is real, but the playfulness of the medium and subject matter also feel like social critique. I was struck by the contrast between the softness of the fiber works and the rigidity of athletic discipline and competition, almost like a kids’ room with foam fingers and pennants. The high-achieving human excellence of athletes is celebrated and highlighted through imagery that references well-known (If you’re a sports fan) stories and heroes. The effect of the show is wonderfully immersive. Thorpe seems like an artist who truly loves to make objects of reverence for the teams and players he loves, and also knows how to “Play Hard” (as one of his pieces says) by taking playfulness seriously.
by Andrew Fish
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