Growing up in chicago in the 80s it was ALL basketball. All sports really, But basketball was all the rage! It was a different time. We hung out in the streets. Ran through yards, gangways and all the alleys. We ran from park to park with very little adult supervision. We played ball anywhere and vs. anyone in Chicago. We had to grow up fast. Act tough. Be cool. Be funny. This piece, like a lot of the the works in the Broken Rims and Dirty Dreams collection, was something based on a childhood memory. I used to hang out with a guy named Fabian Cardenas or maybe it was spelled Favian. Anyway, we played a lot of ball, went to the movies and hung out at the arcade, corner stores or hot dog stands in Chicago in the 80s and early 90's. And in the 80's the world of sports had some incredible characters. Manute Bol, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Pete Rose... All of them characters, all seemed "bigger" than life! Long story short, every time a black person came in to where we were at he would ask me if it was Manute Bol. He was 7 feet 7 inches tall!!! It was funny the first time but got pretty annoying after a while. Still kind of funny to see who it actually was that walked into wherever we were at. It was just comedic innocence. "Fabian" was a funny kid. I know today's world may look at this as not that cool but it was innocent and it was real. That was our lives. Trying to beat each other at whatever game we were playing and making each other laugh. "No harm no foul." That's what the collection BROKEN RIMS AND DIRTY DREAMS represents. Real life. Enjoy!
Ironic. Idiotic. Iconic. Nicknickers. You will never be the same.
Hey look! Is that Manute Bol?
76" x 24" (Unframed)
This piece can be delivered in glass with black frame.*
acrylic, hand painted, cardboard cut out
Nicholas Conlon, 2021
* For questions about delivery and installation, please email us at NICKNICKERS2003@GMAIL.COM
