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Everforward

Maker Gary Simmons (b. 1964, New York, New York)

Publisher Permanent Press (New York)

Date1993

GeographyUnited States, North and Central America

MediumLeather, metallic thread, satin

Dimensionsoverall: 14 in. x 8 in. x 7 in. (35.6 cm x 20.3 cm x 17.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number1997.53

Status

Not on view

RightsCopyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright laws

Photo creditDavis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

More Information

Object Label

Simmons is known for work across media that deploys text, sculpture, and site-specific installation to consider matters of racial stereotyping, class, masculinity, and socio-political injustice in America. Boxing has been a recurring motif and source of inspiration. Here, pristine white leather boxing gloves are tied together with white shoelaces, and emblazoned in gold thread on the cuffs, to recast the Everlast trademark with the civil rights chant: “Ever forward, never back.” Inspired at the confluence of the artist’s interests in the discourses of 1960s politics and 1990s hip-hop, the work also reflects minimalist aesthetics and conceptual tactics. In his use of mass-produced goods, Simmons references other commercial appropriations—like Warhol’s boxes—and nods to consumer culture and branding; he creates equally ambiguous connections to sport, violence, masculine identity, and African American culture. Critic Nancy Princenthal astutely attributed the tension in Simmons’ work to “the presence you can’t quite see.”