Legendary skate company SANTA CRUZ SKATEBOARDS has paid grand homage to underground art world godfather ROBERT WILLIAMS with their new “Malicious” series of signature decks for OG pros ERIC DRESSEN, TOM KNOX, JASON JESSEE, and KEITH MEEK that harkens back to a bygone era of gnarly skating at its finest. Culled from some of Williams’ most iconic oil paintings of the same era, including “Meat of Love,” “Snuff Fink,” “Planet skinner,” and “Hot Rod Race,” the four deck series marks Williams’ first major graphic appearance in the skate world since his introduction in the pages of THRASHER 20 years ago. True believers should keep their eyes peeled for a show of new work by the master imagist at NYC’s starmaking TONY SHAFRAZI GALLERY in late 2009.

Boardsliding would only enhance these Christopher Wool originals…

Expanding upon their highbrow forays into the blue chip art realm, cooler-than-you (and seemingly recession-proof) NYC skate brand SUPREME today launched three new collaborative decks bearing original artwork by the legendary monochromatic abstract painter CHRISTOPHER WOOL (decks launch Saturday, October 4th in Japan). Beginning his career in 1984 with a solo show at Manhattan’s Cable Gallery, the 53-year-old artist who splits his time between the artistic hotbeds of NYC and Marfa, Texas, undoubtedly left urban skate gremlins scratching their heads with this esoteric release, yet still strangely compelled to buy all three decks to later resell on eBay for great profit, all without stopping to ponder the meaning of said graphics. But, then, such is life in this postmodern world. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

The only redeeming aspect of the culture killer that is X GAMES is the annual appearance of Icarus himself, aka: DANNY WAY. This year was no exception. “Balls of steel” begins to describe this drop in…

With the corporate youth culture marketing exercise known as X GAMES upon us, we thought it was the right time to take a look back at some highlights from the career of a man whose futuristic style wrote the book for what would be known as street skating in the 21st century: one RODNEY MULLEN. Back in ‘84 what he did on a shapeless band-aid board was called “freestyle” and his tech-obsessed, kickflip powered riding was awe-inspiring but relegated to the ranks of sideshow acts like Primo & Diane and his signature Powell Peralta deck was the company’s worst selling model. In hindsight, he was a good 20+ years ahead of his time. We still don’t even understand half of what we’re watching here:

The flowmaster of the millennium and the fishtail that started it all…

In the wake of the instantly sold-out release of their first black-on-black reissue Hammerhead skate deck, Hollywood fashion hotspot BARRACUDA has again teamed up with OG skate legend CHRISTIAN HOSOI to release another round of skate heat. Dropping this Friday, June 18th at noon ($85 in-store and online) are limited-edition runs of 50 red-on-red and white-on-white decks sporting Hosoi’s iconic early graphics and totally original board shape, all signed and numbered by Christ himself. Also dropping Friday is an equally limited run of all-white and all-black Hosoi x Barracuda T-Shirts bearing the original Hosoi graphic and the new collaborative logo ($38). Don’t sleep. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Miguel de la Barracuda and his blackhearted quiver of Hammerheads…

OG skate legend CHRISTIAN HOSOI is best known for his signature “Christ Air” and the inimitable and groundbreaking shape of his best-known deck design, the original HAMMERHEAD. Now, teaming up with LA fashion boutique BARRACUDA, Hosoi has produced a limited run of 50 exact reproductions of the pioneering board shape in the to-die-for color combo of black-on-black. Releasing at noon this Friday, May 9th at the Barracuda store (7769 Melrose across from Fairfax High School), and online at Barracudashop.com, each board will be signed and numbered by Christian Hosoi himself. DON’T SLEEP…

Modern board shapes suck so bad…

Animal Chin was here…

NYC-based graphic/fine artist RYAN McGINNES‘ skateboarding-themed mural, “Have You Seen Him,” originally created for the container exhibition at Art Basel Miami 2007 has just been installed in the courtyard of progressive art institution PS1 in Long Island City where it will remain on display until May 3rd. The 200-foot-long panoramic mural consisting of 50 individual enamel paintings is based on the “Citizen Kane” of skate videos, Powell Peralta’s epic “The Search For Animal Chin,” from 1987, and incorporates visual and narrative themes from the seminal Craig Stecyk (nee John Smythe) penned masterpiece. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »