Art on Deck: Skateboard Art

Skateboarding to me is more artform than sport. It doesn't hurt to be a good athlete who can jump high, but the aim of a true skater is to be smooth, stylish and innovative.

An often overlooked part of this "art of skateboarding" is the artwork that graces the bottoms of decks (the wooden platform of a skateboard). If you've skated, when it came time to buy a board, you probably remember being drawn to a certain one. Maybe it was the shape, maybe it was the skater who endorsed the board, but more than likely the artwork was why you picked that board to skate. Whether it be a simple pattern (like my second board -- a Brand X), the all-too-common bones and skulls imagery, or a more abstract graphic, every board makes a unique statement.

This underappreciated form of art was the subject of a unique art show held this past weekend. The show, called Art on Deck, was at a small gallery called the United States Art Authority. There were perhaps 200 decks from a variety of eras, including a few very old boards from the pre-Dogtown age. Most of the boards were from the present back to the mid-80s, when I used to skate. There were lots of decks from skaters I admired: Steve Caballero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Natas Kaupas and Christian Hosoi. My favorites were the boards painted by the great classic street skater, Mark Gonzales. Not too many skaters did the artwork on their decks. Mark Gonzales was an exception. Gonzales always skated with as much style as he put into the designs on his boards. Not surprisingly, he eventually moved on to painting on more traditional media (Donald Trump and Sean "Puffy/Puff-Daddy/P-Diddy/Diddy" Combs are two collectors).

Here are a few pics I took at the show. Sorry about the glare!


Some folks checking out the show in the bare-bones space of USAA


A wide selection of music-inspired decks (above and below)



A couple of the oldest boards (above and below)



Signature of a legend


Dogtown's iconic logo



A selection of Powell & Peralta Mike McGill decks (my first board was a McGill)


Some of Gonz's decks


The artwork of Mark Gonzales


Closeups of Gonzales' decks (above and below)

That lovely February weather

A friend of ours promised that once February arrived, the weather would get really nice: lots of days in the 70s and plenty of sunshine. So far, it seems he was right. It was a beautiful week here in central Texas. Hard to stay indoors, so Lester and I took our first trip to Auditorium Shores park. Auditorium Shores, located across the river from downtown, has one of Austin's dozen or so leash-free dog areas. The park features walking/running trails that are part of a network that runs through downtown and beyond. We walked the section from South First Street over to Zilker Park and back. I was happy to finally get a look at the Stevie Ray Vaughan statute. Lester was more happy about swimming in the (other) Colorado River.


Dog central at Auditorium Shores


Lester in the Big City


Pictures of the Stevie Ray statue