It might seem like the rough-and-tumble world of boxing is a million miles away from the more rarefied world of fine art. But the classic Vegas sport is actually a muse for some of the world’s best artists and most avid collectors. Put aside the stereotypes associated with art or boxing, and the artistic allure of the ring is undeniable: Boxing features high-stakes drama, human anatomy, competition, celebrity, beauty, grace and, yes, violence. What more could an artist seek? Perhaps a tie to Las Vegas? Done.
The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art’s new exhibit, Leather Throwers: Celebrating the World of Boxing Through Art, combines world-class, boxing-themed art with ephemera from Las Vegas’ (and Nevada’s) boxing history.
Tarissa Tiberti, show curator and executive director of MGM Resorts Art & Culture, says Leather Throwers should appeal to sports and art fans alike. “There’s opportunities for people who love boxing to walk away seeing some incredible artworks honoring boxing,” Tiberti says. Meanwhile, art enthusiasts will come away from the show with a new appreciation for “how important boxing was to Las Vegas and how Las Vegas elevated the sport.”
“You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” by Jeffrey Gibson
The featured artists read like a championship fight card: Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Annie Leibovitz, Diane Arbus, Damien Hirst, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, LeRoy Neiman, Irving Penn and more.
Portraits of Muhammad Ali figure prominently in the show. The GOAT is depicted in various forms and styles by Hirst, Leibovitz, Warhol, Vik Muniz and Douglas Gordon. Not quite a portrait, Neil Leifer’s famous photo-from-above of the 1966 fight between Ali and Cleveland Williams offers a stunning birds-eye view.
Among Leather Throwers’ standouts are three punching bags that have been transformed by artist Jeffrey Gibson. Adorned with beads, blankets, paint, studs, fringe and more, they’re elevated from mere workout equipment pieces into sacred totems. In the other corner, a sleek two-toned punching bag by Oldenburg looks like a teardrop or a fine vase.
Boxing ephemera, such as fight posters, add a real-life counterweight to the fine art. The artifacts anchor the show in the very real world of Las Vegas. This is no accident. “We really wanted to … focus on Las Vegas,” says Tiberti, who collaborated on the show with Las Vegas art consultant Heather Harmon. “Even when we were looking at the program, it wasn’t so much about key fights. It was: How [does] the design of the programs and the promotional posters feed into the rest of the art, of the whole idea of boxing?”
The search included a field trip to famed boxing promotion company Top Rank. Harmon scoured the gym for favorite boxing posters, while Tiberti handpicked art from Top Rank’s offices.
Tiberti spotted a Louis Vuitton trunk custom-designed by Karl Lagerfeld to carry a boxing bag and boxing accessories. She also selected a black-and-white drawing by Neiman, “Boxing at the Ritz (Black Tie Boxing).” The drawing depicts a “blurry vision of a boxing match” in a Vegas ballroom with an eye-catching chandelier. The piece stands in contrast to the more typical photo-realistic depictions of boxers throwing a punch. “It’s a really beautiful approach to the ringside view,” Tiberti says.
A detail view “People Like Us” by Jeffrey Gibson
The show’s title, Leather Throwers, comes from a 1998 acrylic-on-paper piece of the same name by California artist Ruscha. The typographic piece displays the first names of boxers, who are more often known by their last names. “It’s giving them their identity back [via] their first names,” Tiberti says. “It’s a beautiful piece, and it’s really perfect because the idea of leather throwers—that title is so great.”
Having grown up in Las Vegas, Tiberti says she’s always had boxing hovering nearby. Her dad would often attend matches, and she, too, has watched the sport up close. “It’s incredible to see just the thrill and the feeling of it,” Tiberti says, though she admits she’s uncomfortable with the idea of two people hurting each other. Of course, that moral complexity makes for fertile ground for an artistic imagination.
The idea for Leather Throwers emerged organically while Tiberti was gathering art for the Bellagio’s previous show, Always More: Collecting in Las Vegas, which ran this past winter. As Tiberti viewed the art held privately in local collections, she says she was blown away by the treasure trove of boxing art. Indeed, she explains, Leather Throwers only exists thanks to the generosity of elite collectors, whose names should be familiar to Las Vegans: Teresa and Lorenzo Fertitta; Ralph DeLuca; Michelle and Lawrence Epstein; Gary Simmons; and Anne and Dana White.
Leather Throwers: Celebrating the World of Boxing Through Art Through August 22; Thursday-Monday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; $8-$16. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, 702-693-7871.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
