Morpheus Basketball & Stand

This limited edition, 2023 leather basketball features Kehinde Wiley’s 2008 painting Morpheus, reimagined from the Jean-Antoine Houdon 1777 marble sculpture of the same name. Featured in the 2008 exhibition DOWN at Deitch Projects, the series references and re-conceptualizes classic pictorial forms of heroism in the face of death. Morpheus features a model from Brooklyn, lain across a white sheet while florals from the background spring into life around his body. Unlike its 18th century counterpart, he addresses onlookers with direct eye contact and a seductive look of invitation, with the repeating floral background protruding into the foreground.

• Regulation size, premium leather basketball in monogrammed cotton dust bag. 
• Heavy lucite basketball stand with beveled edges and engraved, Kehinde Wiley signature. 

Net proceeds from your purchase support the artist in residence program Black Rock Sénégal, founded by Wiley in 2019.