An artistic springboard
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After a few bites of fish taco and a sip of Pacifico, artist Michael Sieben tried his best to describe the show opening this weekend at the Subject Matter Gallery.
“We’re not skateboard artists,” he said. “We’re artists who skateboard.”
The artists in “Gravyyard” have designed more skateboard decks than a kid can break in his lifetime, but to call them skateboard artists just doesn’t seem right.
Sure, three of the four worked as artists for skateboard companies, and many of their supporters are skaters themselves who were more likely to spend the reception pulling nose grinds than snagging free cheese cubes.
But don’t be fooled by the artists’ skater T-shirts, beards and tattoos ? these guys are part of a growing artist community that is changing the way we look at the terms “artist” and “art enthusiast.”
For decades, skateboarding and graffiti art was relegated to board designs and magazine spreads. But as the popularity of skateboarding grew beyond places like Venice Beach and Santa Cruz, so did the appreciation for deck designers like Barry McGee and Ed Templeton.
Validity for skate artists came in February 2005 with the opening of “Beautiful Losers” at the Orange County Museum of Art, a show that included the works of over 40 artists who had previously been known only in skating circles.
“That was the turning point for solidifying the industry,” said Sieben, art director for start-up Bueno Skateboards.
He wouldn’t go as far as saying the exhibit paved the way for skateboarding art; Sieben had been operating a gallery in Austin, Texas, for years. But it did bring the form to the attention of the contemporary art community, forcing it to acknowledge that a subgenre had been brewing under its nose for years.
At the Subject Matter show, Sieben unites with Volcom artist Mike Aho, freelance artist Travis Millard of Echo Park and Consolidated Skateboards artist Todd Bratrud of Santa Cruz. After years designing skateboard decks and T-shirts, the four are starting to branch out into traditional art forms.
“When I do my own stuff, I get to do it my own way,” said Bratrud. “It’s nerve-racking because I never show people what they are expecting to see.”
Many of the young people who grew up enjoying Sieben’s skateboard art are looking for something familiar when they attend the shows, he said.
“It’s an industry driven by 15-year-old kids,” Sieben said. “The younger crowd expects it to look a certain way. They thought it was going to look like a skateboard graphic.”
It’s those expectations, Bratrud said, that drive him to use broad brush strokes and personalized designs that can’t easily be scanned into a computer and thrown onto a skateboard deck.
Putting these shows together is also becoming easier, Aho said, because skateboarding artists are a tight-knit community that often collaborate.
“Gravyyard” may bring a few more people into the art community and expand young people’s concept of art. Millard said the show will include traditional pieces for sale, and dozens of zines ? do-it-yourself magazines ? homemade posters and T-shirts.
“It’s cool that everyone has the ability to leave with something,” he said.
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