For as long as he can remember, painter Eric January has had two loves: art and basketball.
Those passions reached a high point this Black History Month, as he was one of the students chosen to display his work at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game Student Art Showcase. After being one of those selected from a pool of over one hundred applicants, January had a short time to complete a piece for the event.
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WATCH HERETitled "Showtime" his painting depicts a historically Black college and university (HBCU) basketball game, featuring the players, fans and band in the background.
"I really wanted to show the energy and balance in between the HBCU band and HBCU basketball players," January said. "I wanted to pay homage, and show the legacy associated with that. Showing the energy that the music gives to the crowd, and the crowd to the players."
The Chicago native notes that his interest in art and sports has always been hand in hand. Though he originally started with sketching, as a high schooler he began to take painting seriously, all the while still playing basketball on King College Preparatory High School's varsity basketball team.
After graduating in 2019, he went on to attend Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois, playing basketball on a collegiate level. However, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, things changed.
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"Unknowingly I played on bone spurs, bone chips, (with) my ankle sprained, torn ligaments in my foot, and I didn't realize how hurt I was. I played through that my whole first year, and sophomore year we had the pandemic, so our season was cancelled."
As a result of his injury, he had to undergo multiple surgeries and continued physical therapy. With his athletic career unexpectedly cut short, January returned to his other interest: painting.
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SIGN UP He transferred to Howard University in Washington D.C., the #2 ranked HBCU in the nation. Coming into the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, under the leadership of Dean Phylicia Rashad, he registered as a painting major.
While January's basketball career may have ended, he credits it to sparking a new artistic style for him.
"It had a significant impact on my work. The piece I have in Dean Rashad's office, the collection I did for Art Basel and the NBA All Star game, it was all influenced by my time as an athlete."
With a stylistic approach somewhere between abstract and realism, much of January's work depicts Black people in unique spaces.
"I really like to put Black people in this light that I don't feel is mainstream yet", he explains. "I like to (display) a lot of controlled energy and controlled emotion."
Since he arrived at Howard, January has enjoyed a thriving artistic career. He's created and gifted paintings to numerous celebrity figures, including rapper G Herbo (also from Chicago) and NBA player Kyle Kuzma. He displayed his work in the iconic Art Basel Miami event, and even became a 2023 Nike Yard Runner.
However, nothing compares to seeing his work displayed in an NBA arena.
"As a basketball player, and I think everybody from Chicago, at some point, wanted to go to the league. It was just crazy for me to now reach that level."
