ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Jordan Eagles uses HIV-positive blood and Mets memorabilia to explore division and belonging at Pioneer Works

exhibition · 2026-05-14

The exhibition 'Bases Loaded' by Jordan Eagles at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn examines blood donation policies in the U.S., LGBTQ+ discrimination, and political divides through the lens of his support for the New York Mets. Featured are large-scale reproductions of New York Post covers about the Mets, stained with blood, alongside cast-resin sculptures of home plate filled with blood and medical waste. Additionally, T-shirts, altered with blood from HIV-positive gay men, were distributed to donors at Citi Field. Prompted by a summer 2023 experience with a donor shirt, Eagles critiques health policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals. Notably, the exhibit includes a 2002 New York Post cover featuring Mike Piazza marked with blood and a sculpture that combines his blood with that of his deceased father. The exhibition is open until August 9.

Key facts

  • Jordan Eagles's solo exhibition 'Bases Loaded' is at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.
  • The show uses donated blood and medical waste, a medium Eagles has worked with since the 1990s.
  • Eagles focuses on blood's life-giving properties and US health policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.
  • The exhibition examines American cultural polarization through Eagles's fandom of the New York Mets.
  • Three bodies of work: New York Post cover reproductions, home-plate cast-resin sculptures, and altered blood-donor T-shirts.
  • The T-shirts were originally given to blood donors at Citi Field; Eagles splashed them with blood from HIV-positive gay men.
  • Eagles is on PrEP and cannot donate blood without a three-month deferral.
  • One work reprints a 2002 New York Post cover with Mike Piazza and the headline 'I'm not gay,' marked with blood over 'not.'
  • The sculpture 'The Goat (2026)' merges Eagles's blood with his late father's blood and family photos.
  • The exhibition runs until August 9.

Entities

Artists

  • Jordan Eagles
  • Mike Piazza
  • Lee Mazzilli

Institutions

  • Pioneer Works
  • New York Mets
  • Citi Field
  • New York Post
  • The Art Newspaper
  • Princeton University Art Museum
  • Getty Museum
  • High Museum of Art
  • Wallpaper*
  • eBay
  • FDA

Locations

  • Brooklyn
  • New York City
  • United States
  • New York
  • East River

Sources