PARALLEL UNIVERSE
Words : Nick Santora | Images : © NIKE Inc . | Photographer : Chuck Kuhn
In recent years , classic sports posters from the 1980s have taken on new lives as serious works of art . The same five dollar posters that were once plastered on bedroom walls have been displayed in prominent museums and art galleries , fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars from collectors at auctions . The most sought-after posters from this era portrayed childhood heroes dominating alternate universes and playing up outrageous superhero personas . Nike ’ s creative director , Peter Moore was responsible for inventing this genre back in the early 1980s with the help of Seattle-based photographer , Chuck Kuhn .
Instead of trying to use photos of Nike athletes taken during games , Moore got creative with an assortment of cheesy plastic props and ill-fitting costumes , creating a series of larger-thanlife alter-egos named Silk , Iceman , Chocolate Thunder , and Dr . Dunkenstein . These posters captured the imaginations of young basketball fans everywhere , and by 1985 , they grew beyond their original purpose as point-of-sale material for local sporting goods shops and were sold to the public . They were even appropriated by world-renowned artist Jeff Koons as part of his Equilibrium exhibition that same year , functioning as conduits for discussion about class , race and social mobility in 80s America .
The success of Moore ’ s “ alter-ego ” formula spawned Lil ’ Penny , Bo Knows , and the Roswell Rayguns , as well as the most powerful sports superhero in the whole entire galaxy , Michael “ Air ” Jordan . For Nike ’ s first Air Jordan campaign , Moore called on Chuck Kuhn , a Seattlebased photographer . They spent two days in Chicago with a young Michael Jordan . On the second evening , at a playground framed by the Chicago skyline , Kuhn shot a photo that was destined to become a global icon .
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