Duane Hanson’s iconic Football Player now on view at MIA
The famous hyperrealist sculpture is on display through February 2020
Travelers in Miami International Airport’s Concourse D can now view the iconic, hyperrealist sculpture Football Player, created in 1981 by internationally renowned American artist Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 – January 6, 1996). On display through February 2020, Football Player is located between gates D47 and D48.
In the 1960s, Hanson created his own familiar technique of casting in polyester resins reinforced with fiberglass. Casting from live models, Hanson would use partial body molds which he would then assemble and perfect until the figure matched his conception. For Football Player, the model was longstanding sculptor and former professional athlete Robert Thiele, who lives and works in both Brooklyn, New York and Miami, Florida.
We are honored to host this unique and historic piece of artwork, which also has numerous connections to South Florida. It is especially rewarding to showcase Football Player for our passengers through February 2020, when Miami-Dade County will host Super Bowl LIV.
Known for his uncanny hyperrealist sculptures portraying working-class Americans, Hanson saw himself not as a maker of shockingly realistic effigies but as a keen social observer. Born in Alexandria, Minnesota in 1925, Hanson went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI in 1951. His works can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, among others. Hanson died on January 6, 1996 in Boca Raton, Florida.
Football Player is on loan from the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
Miami International Airport, America’s busiest airport for international freight and the second busiest for international passengers, is receiving an unprecedented investment of $14 billion in capital improvements and maintenance upgrades. MIA offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other U.S. airport and is also the leading economic engine for Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida, generating business revenue of $212 billion and approximately 60 percent of all international visitors to Florida annually.
To request materials in accessible format, Sign Language Interpreters, CART services and/or any accommodation to participate in any Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) public meetings and events please email the ADA Office at ADAcoordinator@miami-airport.com or call the office in 305-869-1859 five days in advance to initiate your request. Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service).