Art & Basketball

 

A man and dolphins swimming among mountains of garbage and smoking chimneys on the background of dry blackened Earth. These pictures are Ukrainian artist Lana Kaufman’s way of presenting the incompatability of the natural world and the current course of mankind. Her pieces are a part of an eco art exhibition.

Nearby, visitors can see a basketball, which is made of recycled plastic bottles. It was with this ball that the basketball teams Kyiv Basketa and Minsk- based Tsmoky played with in their game during the European Cup.

“We won! We didn’t just play, but won!”

The Ukrainian team’s forward, Maksym Pustozvonov, gave his lucky basketball as a gift to his girl friend, who he’s been dating for 18 months. Lana wasn’t interested in basketball before.

“She didn’t even know what basketball was or how many players there were on a team or on the court at one time. I had to explain everything to her as we went along. But now she’s the best expert in Ukraine and tells me what to do on the court. And I listen to her!”

Lana isn’t just an expert, but the Kyiv-Basketa team’s biggest fan.

“I attend almost every game, and of course I know what a foul is, or what a two and three pointer is. And I also know that Maks is the best three point shooter.”

Maksym also admits that before meeting Lana, he was about as interested in art as Lana was in basketball. But now, he even knows a bit about painting styles.

“Now, I can say what picture is modern, or diptikh, or still life. I know this now.”

Maskym’s favorite paintings that Lana has done are these pillars. They are symbols of strength and luck among the native people who live near Lake Baikal, where the artist saw them for the first time.

“All of them are my favorite. They’re all over our house. But I think the pink one is my absolute favorite, because it’s so soft and calming to me.”

Maksym’s trainer, Aynars Bagat-skis, thinks that sport and art aren’t too different. He thinks that art inspires players to get higher scores. He said that in his early training days, his coach would take the players to the theatre every week.

The great basketball coaches say that basketball is an artistic act, and I completely agree with this. It is all improvisation.”

Sport can also motivate artists and inspire them to create new masterpieces.

“I’m currently working on an exposition that is completely dedicated to sport. And basketball of course! That is my love.”

Lana is planning a reveal of a new painting which she says was inspired by an important moment in her life. What moment exactly, she wouldn’t say, but they did mentions something related to a ring.