Alejandro Benitez

The Struggles Behind a Champion

My work is a homage to athletes of different sports disciplines. Sports are part of who I am as an individual, and have been one of my main hobbies throughout these past few years as a spectator or participant. As a member of soccer, baseball, and basketball, I understand the dedication and sacrifice needed to achieve the goals an athlete may have, and how important it is for personal growth. I admire several athletes from different disciplines or sports and nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

Sports are universal in all societies and cultures; they strengthen unity between communities, and sometimes solve differences, intolerances or discriminations between contrasting communities. It’s not only entertaining, but inspirational how sports can bring people together. The protagonists in these sports are the athletes becoming heroes around the world, which explains why many athletes’ goals is to participate in the Olympics. The Olympics are widely known as one of the most important events in the world every four years, since it follows ancient history and ancient Greek gods. Originally these players were compared to the origin of Greek gods, but still they are not perfect, since many of them suffer through dedication, sacrifice and personal problems as well. 

Because of the love with these athletes, I continued the same theme developed in my Comparative Study, which was informed and inspired by artists Andy Warhol, Craig Ruddy, Eduardo Cabrer, Banksy, Dario Escobar, among others. These different artists inspired different approaches in the Comparative Study and the Exhibition. Andy Warhol explored a new art movement called Pop Art, where its style is defined by vibrant colors, and how it commemorates different pop cultures figures around the world. One of his most famous works was based on a series of Famous People, which included Marylin Monroe, Pele, and Muhammed Ali. Although his techniques were surrounded around water color and splatter, Craig Ruddy did help me with the Comparative Study ideas, with the facial expressions of the individual. Eduardo Cabrer, being the artist from my own culture, and Dario Escobar, taught me the creativeness for such installations like the ones I produced in the exhibition, while Banksy demonstrated the skill with the stencils, which helped me create the Messi Installation. 

Being from Puerto Rico, I admire all the athletes who represent the island like Mónica Puig, Carlos Arroyo, Javier Culson, Adriana Díaz and Carlos Correa among others, but I also have great admiration for off-island athletes like Michael Phelps, Lionel Messi, Michael Jordan, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.

The artworks I have selected for this show re- interpret various iconic images of specific moments that allude the success or achievement of some athletes, including controversy of their accomplishment. These artworks also are conceptualized, even though it might be the smallest addition, every inch of the art piece has a meaning behind it. Starting with Monica Puig I conceptualized the head band representing the USA since there was a controversy around her living in the USA but representing Puerto Rico in the Olympics. Following it, Carlos Arroyo has a camouflage background representing the way he fought for the island on the court, while Javier Culson has a small silhouette above the “Río 2016” logo which was him moments after the actual picture taken where he was sad and disappointed after a false illegal start who prevented him from competing in the final. Besides these artworks from my own culture, the basketball installation is conceptualized with the fact that many people can’t decide who is the better player: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James. 

My overall vision for presenting this body of work was to create the homage for these athletes, and the adrenaline that exists in those precise moments captured that become iconic images of a collective memory of the sports history of a country or a generation. Although this was the theme for this exhibition, I have slowly come to understand every struggle these athletes had to become the greatest in their discipline. Not many spectators know what these athletes go through to show the rest of the world how heroic they are. Thanks to these investigations, I understood the arduous task  it is to become your country’s hero.