PITTSBURGH —
Pittsburgh artist Kim Fox designed a special game day poster for the Steelers’ matchup against the New Orleans Saints in Paris, combining her love for France with her distinctive mixed-media style.
“The way I do these pieces, I did some research, I found some great vintage maps,” Fox said.
Fox, who has been leading the Steelers’ game day poster project for six years, said it’s important to highlight Pittsburgh’s North Side in her design.
“Obviously I wanted to keep the North Side really prominent because that’s the home of the Steelers,” she said.
When Fox was asked to design the Paris game poster, she was thrilled.
“And they said, ‘And we’re going to have Kim Fox do the Paris game.’ I’m a ding-dong about Paris. I love France. Everyone always makes fun of me for yapping about Paris all the time. I just really wanted to do this game and they allowed me,” Fox said.
The poster features a wood substrate with vintage maps and tin, a style Fox has used in previous projects, including creating mixed-media art pieces for every NFL team during the draft.
“So, it’s a wood substrate with vintage maps and vintage tin. What that was going to look like was kind of to be determined. They don’t tell us, they don’t tell the artists what to do, there’s kind of a brainstorming session, but a lot of it is left up to the artist to decide, you know, their inspiration,” Fox said.
Fox incorporated reclaimed materials, including items left on her porch by neighbors, to create a unique amalgamation of materials and media.
“I use a lot of reclaimed materials, and things that I find, and things that my neighbors leave on my porch for me,” she said.
The design ties Pittsburgh and Paris together by blending elements of both cities.
“Take the map, started messing around, the one of Pittsburgh, I worked it out so that the Seine flows into the Ohio to tie the two cities together,” Fox said.
Fox also linked Pittsburgh with New Orleans by incorporating the fleur-de-lis and the Steelers’ hypocycloid into the design.
“Then I wanted to create this little pattern, tying in the fleur-de-lis to the hypocycloid, each of the teams’ identifying marks,” she said.
The poster serves as a permanent memento of the historic game between two American football teams in France.
Proceeds from the Paris game day poster will support AIR, the Artists Image Resource, a community print shop.
If you’d like to purchase one, you can click here.