Snowboarding
Part one of a two-part trip to Spacejunk’s corner of the creative universe.
Art and board riding: what is the connection? And what is it that separates a skate/snow artist from other artists – is it just a label, or is there a genuine difference? Is it something to do with how these artists grow up around the rebellious influence of board culture? Or is it more an appreciation of the physical act of riding hard, and falling harder? Perhaps Jerome Catz, owner and curator of France’s Spacejunk Gallery, has some answers. Here, we talk art, and look at some of his most spaced-out artists.
Whatever you produce, whether it’s a piece for yourself or as a commission, you are creating something… so it is art… or not.
What were the steps that led you to open the first Spacejunk gallery in 2003? After 10 years of pro snowboarding, I wanted to give something back to the board culture milieu. I had spent those years traveling the planet, discovering new spots, snowboarding almost 5 months and surfing 6 months a year… I just felt that I couldn't stay within this scene without trying to help some of the people in it. The artists I knew were really talented, but shops or bars were their only exhibiting options, so one year I decided to try to provide white walls to them. And, my long-time sponsor Rossignol supported me on this non-profit project.
Were you a snowboarder first? Or an art fan? A snowboarder–surfer first, but I always loved art. I remembering spending two hours on Robert Williams’ work on the Guns & Roses album Appetite For Destruction… It took me some time to link this kind of visual with the board sports aesthetic, but now it’s just obvious. So I’ll say both. Do you make a distinction between an artist and an illustrator? You know, before computers, the artists who could draw were orientated to the illustration department in art schools. The ones who couldn’t draw were steered towards the fine art department… So no, I make no distinction between those two labels. I’m just looking at the result to form my opinion. Whatever you produce, whether it’s a piece for yourself or as a commission, you are creating something… so it is art… or not.
Nicolas Thomas Any long-time fans of APO, the celebrated French snowboard brand, will recognise the work of Nicolas Thomas, their art director and most iconic graphic artist.
Situated between painting and illustration, his work revolves around grand recurrent themes: portraits, more or less abstract landscapes, genre scenes, graphics, and logos. His totemic characters, at times organic, mineral or human-machines, are at once mutant and multiform. Dreams of reality and the reality of dreams… this is the raw material of his art.
Will Barras Barras studied art and practiced graffiti in Bristol, the hometown of Banksy; emerging from the town’s flourishing street art scene at about the same time. Above all, and this is perhaps why his work resonates with board riders, Will’s art explores movement. None of his work is static. On seeing his artwork on a series of Rossignol snowboards, Barras says: “It was always a big ambition to get some art on a skate or snowboard. I took a lot of inspiration from watching skate, BMX and snowboard videos, trying to capture this movement. From the artists to the riders, filmakers and the music on the videos – they all inspire each other.”
Caia Koopman Studying Fine Arts at the University of California in Santa Cruz, Caia was a skateboard enthusiast immersed in the punk rock scene of the ‘80s. Her professional career began by creating designs for skateboards and snowboards, and today Caia has one of the most recognisable styles in the scene. Tied closely to the “Pop Surrealist” movement, Koopman offers us uniquely contradictory female characters: feminine and delicate, but streetwise and sassy…cute yet macabre.
Watch this space for the continuation of our new ART BOARD series next Monday!
