Capturing a career that includes four World Series wins, five All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves and an American League batting title on a batting helmet might be tricky for some artists.
Not so much for Charles Fazzino, who created a piece that included all those moments and more for New York Yankees great Bernie Williams. It’s 3D pop art, Fazzino’s signature style.
Williams said the one-of-one Yankees batting helmet is “one of the most cherished items” he owns.
“He captured so many milestones and moments of my career in New York — and the helmet even includes aspects of my music career,” Williams said. “It is proudly displayed in my home and always a big conversation piece that stands out to anyone who visits.”
It’s an example of how Fazzino, who once watched baseball but wasn’t a superfan, turned many baseball players into fans of his work.
Fazzino has been the official artist for the MLB All-Star Game for more than 20 years. He’s served a similar role for the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games and more. He’s best known for pop art — his vibrant three-dimensional pieces that include turning items like baseballs into colorful artwork.
Now, Fazzino is a regular part of baseball’s midsummer spectacle, including tonight’s game in Atlanta. His work is featured on the All-Star Game program, and he’s commissioned to do work based in Atlanta.
Becoming a big part of baseball wasn’t on Fazzino’s radar as a 1977 graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York. Art had always been a part of Fazzino’s life; his father was a shoe designer in New York, and his mother was an artist. But Fazzino struggled as he shopped his pop-out book about a cat in New York that he wanted to get illustrated.
Fazzino said it was around 1982 when he joined his mother at the Greenwich Village Outdoor Art Show at Washington Square Park. His mother showed her sculptures and suggested he attend to show his work. Fazzino brought some of his projects from school and pulled the pages out of his book and framed them.
“By the end of the first day of the show, I sold all of the pieces, all my book pieces that were three-dimensional,” Fazzino said. “I immediately knew I was on to something new, something different and unique.”
That uniqueness resonated with art fans — baseball fans, in particular. Fazzino would create pieces based on New York neighborhoods. He began noticing an overlap between fans of his city scenes and collectors wanting sports-related work.
“I’d hear, ‘I love your work, but (do) you do anything with the Yankees?’” Fazzino said. “I kept hearing this over and over at shows: the Mets, the Yankees, blah, blah blah. So, I approached Major League Baseball because I knew with the 3-D aspect, it’s so different from other artists like, you know, Peter Max, LeRoy Neiman. They were just painting regular, flat artwork.”
Fazzino’s first Yankees piece sold out in about six weeks. The Bronx-born Fazzino found baseball fans “ravenous” for the work.
New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams holds the custom batting helmet art that Charles Fazzino created for him. Williams called it one of his most cherished possessions. Photo provided by Williams’ manager Steve Fortunato.
This was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fazzino said, and that would alter his career path. He was already creating work to capture the essence of neighborhoods.
That would now include stadiums.
“I knew I was on to something,” Fazzino said. “I really felt that I was good at depicting the baseball experience. When people say they look at my artwork, they say that it almost feels like you can smell the hot dogs and beer in the games. I really try to capture that experience, and that’s what I do with all my artwork.”
Fazzino’s work is not limited to sports. He created a piece for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2021. He was initially unsure of what approach to take.
“I was like ‘That’s a sad subject,’” Fazzino said. “They said ‘Maybe you can concentrate on the optimism of 20 years that we haven’t had an attack again like this. Maybe you could find something positive about that. So I created a piece for the museum down there, and it hangs in the museum.”
But baseball was still a part of the day as Williams and New York Mets star Pete Alonso was among those at the unveiling ceremony.
Fazzino’s work evokes emotions that draw in fans. Beyond players, team and network executives who have seen his work find themselves becoming customers.
“He makes a story come to life,” Atlanta Braves co-president Mike Plant said. “There have been a few copycats. They’re just not close. They don’t have that level of talent that Charles has. Obviously, he’s been doing it for decades, and that is why he is the official artist of some of the MLB and NFL events and the Olympic Games. They don’t pass those accolades out too easily.”
Between All-Star games, Super Bowls and the Olympics, Fazzino has a lot of Atlanta pieces. Plant said no matter the event, Fazzino injects energy into his work.
Plant owns about 20 pieces from Fazzino, not just art he created for the Braves.
“He did our opening piece in 2017 for us,” said Plant, referring to Atlanta’s new stadium. “The mixed-use development lifestyle center around the ballpark has really evolved. We built a number of other buildings, and he was able to capture a lot of that. He’s got an incredible talent.”
New York Mets star Pete Alonso helps artist Charles Fazzino unveil artwork Fazzino created for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Photo courtesy Museum Editions, Ltd.
The work extends beyond New York. MLB used Fazzino’s work to celebrate All-Star games and World Series champions and create memorabilia like baseballs, making Fazzino a part of baseball’s biggest moments.
Ed Goren, former chairman and president of Fox Sports said Fazzino is the visual voice of sports. Goren owns seven Fazzino pieces and noted how the colors bring scenes to life.
“It ties into what a sports audience wants to see,” Goren said. “It’s a unique approach to art and sports. The artwork, the stadiums, it comes alive. It really is pretty impressive.”
Art has helped Fazzino become friends with celebrities and create for some of baseball’s biggest names. He considers baseball legend Reggie Jackson a friend.
Fazzino did work for Derek Jeter’s retirement that he presented to Jeter on the field, and Hideki Matsui is also a fan. Fazzino said Pete Alonso’s wife had him do a piece for the Mets’ slugger before they got married — his career on a batting helmet.
Beyond baseball, Tom Brady’s father has commissioned helmets for the seven-time Super Bowl champion as gifts. Lady Gaga’s father commissioned three pieces to commemorate her halftime performance at Super Bowl LI. Gwen Stefani has also has had work done by Fazzino.
“I guess people see it at their friends’ houses and they contact me,” Fazzino said.
Fazzino’s fame is no surprise to Williams, who’s been a fan of Fazzino for nearly 25 years because of “his magnificent cityscapes of host cities of jewel events in sports.” He was honored to be a part of he ceremony for the 9/11 museum, too.
“He has so brilliantly and cleverly captured the essence of so many great cities,” Williams said. “And I can’t help but be a little bit biased that, to me, his New York pieces are extra special.”
Fazzino has partnered with Fanatics for more than five years, so his work is available to more than celebrities. Fanatics vice president Chris Amoroso has a history in collectibles spanning more than 30 years and has worked with Fazzino for a long time. He said what separates Fazzino’s work is the detail put into the memorabilia.
“They don’t want to just get an Aaron Judge signed baseball or an Aaron Judge signed baseball with an inscription,” Amoroso said. “They want something that’s really different. It’s made by hand, one of one, and it stands alone. I think it brings a different audience, but also a different collector that is trying to get that they want to separate themselves.”
Amoroso said Fazzino’s team is good at doing all it can to give art fans a great experience. The team started with Fazzino’s wife: she stayed up at night with him to cut and glue materials. Today, he has a team of 60 artists.
When Fazzino receives a request, he does an initial drawing and sends the idea to the client for approval. The process to complete the work varies depending on if it’s a flat painting or a three-dimensional piece. Items like Swarovski crystals are hand glued, and an Exacto knife is used to cut materials. No machines are used to make a piece.
The team allows Fazzino to travel for shows without stopping production.
“My studio is still clicking and working,” Fazzino said. “After a commission, it’s just finished at my studio.”
Having a great team isn’t just a sports thing.
Teamwork makes the art work, too.
(Photo of Bernie Williams and Charles Fazzino provided by Museum Editions, Ltd.)