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Keith Haring was a generous soul. He gave and gave till the very end. I feel lucky to of called him a friend, even if it was only through many, many letters. I was stoked to see this vintage board recently that Keith had drawn on, most likely for some fan. That's how Keith was - he drew on everything. We wrote each other about art, cartoons and style. I hold the two drawings Keith sent me, just months before his death, very dear. Peace Keith.
Jamie Watson. Limited edition, signed 11x17 posters on beautiful Coronado paper.
The California Heritage Museum is proud to present “SKATEBOARD: Evolution and Art in California.” The show opens to the general public on Saturday, November 14, 2009 and continues through Sunday, May 30, 2010. More than 275 rare boards from the world’s finest collections including Jason Cohn, Dale Smith/Skate Designs Inc., Todd Huber/Skatelab Skatepark, Ray Flores, James Lang/South Bay Skates. This is the first exhibition of the California skate movement to be shown in “Dog Town”, the Santa Monica/Ocean Park area where modern skateboarding was born and the skate became an art form. The California Heritage Museum is located in the vortex at Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard.
I was interviewed by the lovely Jamie Watson from the very cool surf lifestyle blog Pineapple Luv. Thanks Jamie. Also check out Jamie's interview with Joe Conway from Drift in the latest issue of Refueled magazine.
They're coming. Refueled Sidewalk Surfboards. Spring 2010.
Read my interview with surf/skate streetwear icon Shawn Stussy in the upcoming issue of Refueled magazine, which drops Nov. 1.
BEAUTIFUL LOSERS celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation
In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.
Some of my favorite artist from the film are:
Ed Templeton was born in Orange County, California, a sprawling suburb of Los Angeles where he still lives today with his wife of 16 years, Deanna. He discovered skateboarding in middle school and quickly went pro before finishing high school. He has devoted his life to it since then. It was skateboarding that gave him opportunities to tour Europe where he spent every free moment absorbing its galleries and art museums. Templeton began to exhibit his works in small galleries and skateboard shops, eventually moving on to large galleries and institutions. His photographs give a sun-drenched glimpse of what it might be like to be young and alive in what Templeton refers to as "the suburban domestic incubator". His first major European museum exhibition opened in October 2002 at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Since then, he has exhibited his paintings and photographs worldwide. Templeton is the founder of Toy Machine, a blood-sucking skateboard company. He has also done design work for Grand Royal, Spin, Geffen and Factory Records and is currently one of the principles behind ANP Quarterly, a large format art & culture magazine.
Aaron Rose is an artist, writer and independent curator currently living in Los Angeles. Aaron founded the highly influential Alleged Gallery in New York, curating shows there for ten years. In the 1990s, Rose produced numerous short films and worked as a producer/director for MTV Networks producing on-air promos in conjunction with contemporary artists and indie-directors. Since 2002, Rose has been working as a freelance curator, choosing artists for the Undefeated Billboard Project, a public art project in Los Angeles produced in conjunction with Nike. He is co-curator of the large-scale museum exhibition Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art & Street Culture", which will tour the world through the end of 2008. In addition to curating other exhibitions and publishing books under a new publishing label, Alleged Press, Rose is co-editing a quarterly large format art magazine (ANP Quarterly), which is offered free as an outreach of RVCA Clothing's non-profit initiative the Artist Network Program.
Thomas Campbell is a painter, photographer and filmmaker. An entirely self-taught artist, his work directly reflects his life and draws from his experience traversing around the globe on surf trips. During his short breaks between adventures, he has been known to lock himself in for days on binges that produce literally hundreds of fresh drawings and works on canvas. Campbell has mounted solo exhibitions at galleries in New York, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris and Morocco. His feature length surfing films The Seedling and Sprout have been avidly embraced by the surfing community worldwide. He is also creative director for a small independent record label, Galaxia, which has released records by contemporary artists Tommy Guerrero, Ray Barbee, Peggy Honeywell and Black Heart Procession.
Deanna Templeton has always taken photos. When she was 15, her mother bought her a Cannon T-90 for coming back home after running away. When she was 21, she got a Yashica point and shoot. She now has a whole bevy of cameras to choose from, and seems to always have one with her. In Deanna's photographs you see an eye to the feminine experience, –the cracks that are forming in that false persona of being a girl in this day and age. She explores what being a child, or a woman feels like today. The photos leave you with more questions than answers, like good art should. Her work has previously been shown at n44 in Paris, Museum Het Domein in The Netherlands and the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia.
My board line, Refueled Sidewalk Surboards, launches Spring 2010.
The Malloy Brothers. Surfers for a new millennium. Huck Magazine.
Surfer Magazine - Behind the Scenes of the Guest Editor Issue
“We can't let them hijack the magazine, was Editor Chris Mauro's constant concern. “We can't let them take over completely."
Sure. You're talking about inviting Jack Johnson, easily the most recognizable surfer on the planet today, and Chris Malloy, one of the most creative surfers out there, to come and guest edit the next issue of SURFER, and you think you can control them, you can only hope to contain them. And contain them we did, on 202 pages of the new issue of SURFER. It wasn't always easy, and the constant e-mails being beamed to and from Jack's tour bus and the late nights in the office weren't always pretty, but by affording two of the best minds in surfing the freedom to put what they wanted on our pages, we were able to produce one of the most unique surf magazines in history.
Now that that's out of the way, you're probably wondering what working with Jack and Chris for a month was like. Let's just say we had to be on our game. Catching up with Jack is no easy feat -- being a platinum-selling artist does that to a person -- so you take all the time you can get and consider yourself fortunate. An afternoon in Santa Barbara here, a lunch in L.A. there, and to really nail down the captions, a morning spent in the Green Room during a taping of Jay Leno. When the project began Jack was just about to start a national tour, which would have presented a huge problem had he not been so tech savvy. Photos and layouts were continuously e-mailed back and forth, Jack adding his input every step of the way. It's not that he didn't want to be in the office sweating it out in the trenches with us, it's just that when you've got five cities to hit in five nights, and every stadium is sold out with squealing girls and adolescent boys hoping some of your mojo will rub off, the demands on your time are relentless to say the least.
Then there was Chris Malloy. It looked for a while there like he was going to move into the SURFER offices. He kept Photo Editor Grant Ellis up until the wee hours of the night on more than one occasion, and never left before 8 or 9 at night the rest of the time. And if by chance he left before the sun had set, Chris Mauro, sounding very much like a concerned parent, would say, “All right, you can go surfing, but you have to make sure you get your homework done. We need those words from you. Then there was the time we thought he'd skipped town altogether, but it turns out he'd gotten zapped by a stingray.
All sarcastic comments aside, making the Guest Editor issue with Jack and Chris was a blast from beginning to end. They really are as mellow and as cool as they come across in their music, movies and various other media outlets.
So all that being said, what's the big deal, you still might ask? Let's start with the recycled paper the mag's printed on. That's a first for us, and thanks to Jack and Chris enlightening us, hopefully it will be something we continue doing. Another notable feature is the back cover. Never before in SURFER's history have we run an issue without a back-cover ad, but to celebrate this collector's edition we convinced the guys at Rip Curl to pass on this month's ad and let Jack and Chris work their magic.
Speaking of covers, you may have noticed that there are two different covers on the newsstand right now. Jack and Chris couldn't make up their minds: a groovy hand-held longboard shot, or a brilliant photo of a friend at Pipeline. Completely letting them hijack the magazine, we let them run both covers. So all you collectors get out there and make sure you've got both editions in your collection. As you flip through the pages you're sure to find something else between the covers that interests you; there's something for everyone in this issue. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
We thought Chris really loved this slide, but two hours later we came back after having a couple beers and realized he had actually fallen asleep on the light table. He had a big bruise around his eye for days. Just kidding. When it came to putting his vision to reality Chris never fell asleep on the job.
As with any issue of SURFER, every photo is scrutinized and argued over, its merits and faults pointed out. And when Jack and Chris took the helm this didn't change, except they also had to consider what their friends would think if their photos didn't make the cut. Here, Chris and Jack at the impromptu light table in Jack's backyard, wondering if Slater would be mad if they didn't run his shot.
The Marx Brothers, the Three Amigos, the Three Stooges, the Three Musketeers, call 'em what you want, but usually where you find one Malloy you find a couple more lurking about. And when it came time to picking photos for the Guest Editor issue, as expected, they all showed up for the edit session. Why should we expect anything less from the tightest brothers in surfing?
This is Keith and Dan Malloy's garage. Ventura neighbors Alex Kopps and KP stopping by to see what's new, or old, in the wide world of surfboards.
Chris, Keith, Dan and Emmett Malloy, and Jack White and the White Stripes, on the set of their MTV video shoot. Maybe the only surfing family to make such a smooth transition from surfing to Hollywood to the Top 40, the Malloys somehow gracefully walk the line between all three worlds.
-Jake Howard -Photos by Grant Ellis
Although four years old, DRIVE Skateboarding is still relevant today. Based on the X-DANCE award winning documentary DRIVE (MY LIFE IN SKATEBOARDING), DRIVE continues the journey of professional skateboarder Mike Vallely as explores the people, places, and issues defining skateboarding and youth culture today. DRIVE blends action with information, empowering and inspiring its viewers to active and compassionate, and to pursue their talents and life dreams.
Go out there, live your dream, climb your way to the top, but do it with respect for others.
My great pal, Dallas-based photographer Gustav Schmiege, shoots for Kiteboarding Magazine. He can usually be found in extreme locations such as the coast of Brazil, Barbados, Turks & Caicos, and the backcountry of Utah. His editorial credits include publications such as Esquire, Men's Journal, Mens Vogue, Veranda, Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens, American Way and D Magazine.
A sneak peek at a few of the decks I have been designing & developing for my skateboard line. Refueled Sidewalk Surfboards will be available Spring 2010 online, at exclusive skate shops and boutiques. Stay tuned for details.
Grab some wood. Classic.
