Travelers in Miami International Airport’s Concourse D now can view the iconic, hyperrealist sculpture Football Player created in 1981 by internationally renowned American artist Duane Hanson (Jan. 17, 1925- Jan. 6, 1996). On display through February 2020, Football Player is located between gates D47 and D48.
In the 1960s, Hanson created his own familiar technique of casting in polyester resins reinforced with fiberglass. Casting from live models, Hanson would use partial body molds which he would then assemble and perfect until the figure matched his conception. For Football Player, the model was longstanding sculptor and former professional athlete Robert Thiele, who lives and works in Brooklyn (NY) and Miami.
“We are honored to host this unique and historic piece of artwork, which also has numerous connections to South Florida,” said Lester Sola, MIA director and CEO. “It is especially rewarding to showcase Football Player for our passengers through February 2020, when Miami-Dade County will host Super Bowl LIV.
Known for his uncanny hyperrealist sculptures portraying working-class Americans, Hanson saw himself not as a maker of shockingly realistic effigies but as a keen social observer. Born in Alexandria, MN in 1925, Hanson went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI in 1951. His works can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, among others. Hanson died on Jan. 6, 1996 in Boca Raton.
Football Player is on loan from the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
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