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<\/p>\nCapturing 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 3D pop art, Fazzino\u2019s signature style.<\/p>\n
Williams said the one-of-one Yankees batting helmet is \u201cone of the most cherished items\u201d he owns.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe captured so many milestones and moments of my career in New York \u2014 and the helmet even includes aspects of my music career,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt is proudly displayed in my home and always a big conversation piece that stands out to anyone who visits.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an example of how Fazzino, who once watched baseball but wasn\u2019t a superfan, turned many baseball players into fans of his work.<\/p>\n
Fazzino has been the official artist for the MLB All-Star Game for more than 20 years. He\u2019s served a similar role for the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games and more. He\u2019s best known for pop art \u2014 his vibrant three-dimensional pieces that include turning items like baseballs into colorful artwork.<\/p>\n
Now, Fazzino is a regular part of baseball\u2019s midsummer spectacle, including tonight\u2019s game in Atlanta. His work is featured on the All-Star Game program, and he\u2019s commissioned to do work based in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Becoming a big part of baseball wasn\u2019t on Fazzino\u2019s radar as a 1977 graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York. Art had always been a part of Fazzino\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of the first day of the show, I sold all of the pieces, all my book pieces that were three-dimensional,\u201d Fazzino said. \u201cI immediately knew I was on to something new, something different and unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
That uniqueness resonated with art fans \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d hear, \u2018I love your work, but (do) you do anything with the Yankees?\u2019\u201d Fazzino said. \u201cI 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\u2019s so different from other artists like, you know, Peter Max, LeRoy Neiman. They were just painting regular, flat artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fazzino\u2019s first Yankees piece sold out in about six weeks. The Bronx-born Fazzino found baseball fans \u201cravenous\u201d for the work.<\/p>\n
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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\u2019 manager Steve Fortunato.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That would now include stadiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was on to something,\u201d Fazzino said. \u201cI 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\u2019s what I do with all my artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fazzino\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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