Maxwell Pearce

      Maxwell Pearce is a mixed media artist and a Harlem Globetrotter from Tuckahoe, New York, who challenges how we perceive humanity in and out of sports. In the midst of playing five sports throughout his childhood, he was always focused on his ability to define reality beyond life in sports - which came through the arts. In the third grade, he cemented his passion for the arts when his drawing was selected to be the yearbook cover for his elementary school.
              Maxwell was a starting point guard at Purchase College, where he quickly built a global reputation for his slam dunk videos. His social presence led to being featured in CNN, GQ, CBS, Sportscenter, MTV, and more. In 2018, he won the first ever shark tank business competition at Purchase College with his idea for a nonprofit called Flynance, a program that he founded with a teammate from Purchase. This program aims to help student athletes with the transition from sports into their next phase of life. This program was named a 2018 Westchester Up & Coming Award recipient, and was featured in Westchester Magazine. That same year, he represented Purchase College in the ESPN College Slam Dunk Championship in San Antonio and came in 3rd place. Pearce became just the 7th Division III player to participate in the championship. His outstanding performance led to being discovered by the Harlem Globetrotters and signing a contract upon graduating with a bachelors degree in economics.
              After experiencing a deeply inappropriate live interview with Alabama television anchors that had racist undertones, Pearce channeled the extreme backlash he received into an artistic celebration of the human under the jersey. This inaugural collection debuted at N'namdi Contemporary for Miami Art Basel in 2022. He had pieces acquired by the LA Dodgers, Detroit Institute of Art, the Pittsburgh museum of Diversity and Culture, the Westchester County Hall of Fame, and more.

Maxwell Pearce’s work emphasizes the multi-dimensionality of being an athlete and a total person. His textured mixed media pieces are often created out of sports equipment and shoelaces - which he believes to be the common thread between so many of us. His sculptures—each of which offers multiple points of view—maintain historical and contemporary references through inspirations like important people, moments, ideas, family members, and also athletes. His perspective as a professional athlete and an artist gives him a very unique vantage point. Further, Pearce intends for his works to act as form of social practices engaging society to reflect on meaning, material, and movement.