TERRA GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Nike and Airbnb helped welcome Kevin Durant to the Bay last night in an exclusive event that also brought renowned basketball backboard stained glass artist Victor Solomon into downtown San Francisco.
[CLICK ON THE PHOTO GALLERY ABOVE, LEFT AND RIGHT ARROWS]Solomon prepared the venue for an eclectic mix of the city’s urbanites, which including dot-com executives, angel investors, and sneakerheads, with his #LiterallyBalling work. Here’s the transcript of our interview with Solomon:
LGW: Tell us about your gallery here.
VS: The interesting thing is, a lot of it is about how basketball is this sort of classroom sport. It doesn’t cost anything to play it, and a lot of times you can take it and go through this journey from playing in the streetball to playing in college, to taking it to the league. The #LiterallyBalling work represents is a culmination of that journey, so it felt like a really good match for the journey that “KD” has been on and, especially now that he’s in the Bay, the sort of evolution of his journey along the way.
LGW: So you set up the gallery in that sort of chronology?
VS: So we have all the photography of key moments in Kevin’s life and walking through that journey for people, as well as the work. It’s sort of taking you through from that era to this era, with the basketballs in the ceiling and the backboards that are representing each phase of the sport.
LGW: Do you play basketball too?
VS: Yeah, maybe if my knees would let me! I was just being a big fan of the game and wanting to celebrate it with the work, so it’s been really exciting for me to watch people resonate with, and especially it’s a huge honor to be a part of this big moment for Kevin, it’s a big deal.
LGW: And you’re from where?
VS: I’m from Boston originally, but I’ve lived here for 15 years now.
LGW: You must have been jumping out of your chair when you got the call from Nike.
VS: It was a huge honor, particularly with being a fan of Kevin already and knowing what this meant, this big step for his journey. So to be called by Nike to be part of it is a crazy honor. It’s been really really great to be part of it.
LGW: Is DubNation able to pull you away from being a Celtics fan at all?
VS: Oh for sure, I got my East Coast team and I got my West Coast team, so I play both sides!
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Follow @StepheeLovell contributed to this report. Stay tuned for more as we add more content to this report.] [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU9lzbPJZfY&w=560&h=315](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @KDTrey5)
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