New Dallas Cowboys Stadium to Display Contemporary Art
By STAN PARCHIN
August 30, 2009
Gene and Jerry Jones, owners of the Dallas Cowboys, commissioned 14 contemporary artworks for the football team's new $1.15 billion stadium in Texas. Their Art Program, an ongoing initiative, will be inaugurated with site-specific installations within the arena at locations predicted to have the highest level of pedestrian traffic (e.g., the building's four main entryways, two grand staircases and a pair of ramps). Much of the art makes its debut on September 20, 2009, when the home team competes against the New York Giants.
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| Olafur Eliasson (Danish, b. 1967). Fat super star 5 (2008-09). Edition 2 of 10. Brass, color effect filter glass, mirror and halogen light fixture. 99.06 x 99.06 x 99.06 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.). Ceiling of Owner's Club, Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Photograph courtesy of Olafur Eliasson and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. |
Franz Ackermann, Ricci Albenda, Mel Bochner, Daniel Buren, Olafur Eliasson, Teresita Fernandez, Terry Haggerty, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Jim Isermann, Annette Lawrence, Dave Muller, Matthew Ritchie, Gary Simmons and Lawrence Weiner are represented in the inaugural installation.
The Cowboys' owners were ably advised in their selection of works by respected experts, among them: Michael Auping, Chief Curator, the Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth; Charlie Wylie, Lupe Murchison Curator of Contemporary Art, the Dallas Museum of Art; and Texas-based collectors Howard Rachofsky and Gayle Stoffel.
Jerry Jones said, “We're taking a whole new approach to what a national sports arena can be. Cowboys Stadium isn't just a place to go and see a game or a concert. It's an experience you share with your family and your community. That will include things that a lot of people wouldn't anticipate seeing at a stadium, like contemporary art. Football is full of the unexpected and the spontaneous. It can make two strangers into friends."
Gene Jones remarked, "We're breathing new life into a tradition that extends back to the Greeks and Romans, who integrated the art of their time in stadiums where the best athletes gathered to compete. The Art Program at Cowboys Stadium brings this dialogue between art and sport into the modern day.”
Art tours are part of the Cowboys' program.