Futura 2000 spent the 1970s sneakily painting subway cars. Fifty years later, a museum director is emailing to ask if he’ll paint a soccer ball instead. That’s the arc of “Art of the Game,” a 23-sculpture public art takeover of New York and New Jersey timed to the FIFA World Cup, where artists—including Katherine Bernhardt, Hank Willis Thomas, and Fred Wilson, each nominated by a local arts institution—got six-foot steel soccer balls as their canvases. The project traces back to the late, legendary patron Agnes Gund, who, before her 2025 death, connected organizers, museums, and partners to kick-start the initiative; it’s the last she helped set in motion.
The project is riddled with New Yorkers, including native Futura 2000, a Virgil Abloh and Rei Kawakubo collaborator who was the subject of a sweeping retrospective at the Bronx Museum last year. For “Art of the Game,” however, he was nominated by Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak, and his resulting sculpture crossed the Hudson to be permanently installed at Journal Square in Jersey City, one of the nearly two dozen works organized by the nonprofit ARTS 14C and the World Cup’s regional host committee, all on view through Labor Day.
As soccer fever sweeps through the city, we caught up with the artist to talk about graffiti’s long road to the museum, painting a pentagon-and-hexagon contraption, and what soccer means to a kid who grew up traversing the New York streets.
How have you seen the city transform as sports have take over recently?
I’ve always been a sports fan, since I was a child. When I was 10, my knowledge of sports statistics, and knowing batting averages vs. shooting percentages were a benefit to my love of mathematics. But today, recent CHIPS aside, all I see is sports gambling.
Did you grow up playing or watching soccer? How do you come to it?
I certainly remember PELÉ, who came to play for the COSMOS during my years in the military. I only knew the game and the rules, but never excelled at it. I love BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, and ICE HOCKEY in that order. As an only child, I was in full participation in all youth activities. What I called CHURCH and STATE. One of the few resources, [and you] must rely on those necessary services. What worked 50, 60 years ago, would probably work tomorrow.
What first intrigued you about participating in this project, and what do you see it meaning to the city?
The games themselves. The scope of spectacle, and the participation with other artists, and the ultimate stories each work will convey. Like all work in the public spaces, it will transition, but we hope the project is dynamic in the moment.
What was your first thought when you were presented with the challenge of the enormous, fabricated sculpture?
Wow, I get to work with POWERHOUSE. And, How do we make the sculptural element look like an actual soccer ball? The inclusion of the BLACK BLOCKS, visually, makes that work.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the design you settled upon?
It’s an older painting of mine titled SPORTS IN SPACE WITH AIR FORCE BLUE, but with BLACK BLOCKS. It could be something I might design on a more workable 1:1 scale, if, for example, I woulda designed and created an actual soccer ball. This was very next level, beyond my initial imagination of the finished piece.
How do you think public art changes the character of a space? How about New York and Jersey specifically?
I think people might see one of the various sculptures and be pleasantly surprised. Others may walk past and not even notice. Both outcomes are acceptable as they’re anticipated. I hope those who walk past mine will actually touch it.
Which of the other sculptures included are you most drawn to? What catches your eye?
BASSIM AL SHAKER, without question. I love his piece so much. Plus, he also stepped in to help install mine.
This project brings together a number of institutions and patrons of the art world. What kind of collaborative projects would you like to see going forward in this space?
The connection between artist and institution must continue. This project was an amazing event and a catalyst to the future of SPORTS meets ART.
More of our favorite stories from CULTURED
Bowties in Public, Rubber Curtains at Home: Inside the NYC Loft of a Revered Modernist Starchitect
Introducing CULTURED’s 2026 Young Collectors List
12 Burgers, 10 Snapper Crudos, 1 Rabbit: These Are the Rarest Dishes in New York
Here Are the Books Young Writers Can’t Stop Turning to for Inspiration
Sign up for our newsletter here to get these stories direct to your inbox.
in your life?
