Emerging Bay Area artist Johnny Cueto debuts new bubble gum sculpture in Giants dugout

Have you ever thought about how often we refer to pitchers as "artists"? Some of the most effective hurlers "paint the corners," while the most masterful earn the reputation of being "strikeout artists."
Johnny Cueto has taken this comparison rather literally, and during Wednesday's 4-2 win over the D-backs, he appeared to have begun dabbling in sculpture:

New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz once asked, "If art comes from everywhere and everyone thinks differently, why does so much of what we see these days look the same?" It's an apt question, and one that makes the emergence of this iconoclastic new sculptor all the more thrilling.
At its most surface level, Cueto has crafted a playful and humorous pun with his sculpture -- he's a pitcher, and he's created a ball. But a secondary investigation reveals a deeper exploration: The sculpture bursts under its own tension, perhaps evoking the moment a hitter capitalizes on a mistake pitch, launching it into the stands.
The beauty of art is that it can ask us to ponder such challenging ideas. Let's hope to see more work from this rising star.