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A new work by the artist who recently unveiled a much-discussed sculpture of a hug between Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King will be displayed outside the Phoenix-area stadium hosting the upcoming Super Bowl.
The 10-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture by the artist, Hank Willis Thomas, shows an unidentified player’s extended arm reaching to catch a football. Titled “Opportunity (reflection),” it draws inspiration from his 2015 sculpture “Opportunity.”
“The ball is a metaphor for the present moment and what we do with it,” Thomas said. “In team sports, it’s all about what the collective does with the present moment toward achieving a goal against sometimes unlikely and unseemly odds.”
The sculpture was commissioned by the NFL and will be displayed outside State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12, the day the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs face off in Super Bowl LVII. (Fans can get an earlier view of the sculpture inside the Phoenix Convention Center; the work will later be on loan at the Arizona State University Art Museum.)
In January, Thomas’ 19-ton bronze monument to the Kings — inspired by a photo of the couple after Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 — was criticized and mocked online. Titled “The Embrace” and now a permanent fixture on Boston Common, the memorial features the Kings’ arms and does not show their faces, leading some observers to compare the pose to a sexual act.
