September 24, 2024

Nike: Form Follows Motion

 

 

Now on view at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany is Nike: Form Follows Motion, the first ever comprehensive museum exhibition about Nike. The show explores the company’s five-decade ascent from a grassroots start-up to a global phenomenon, with a focus on Nike’s design history: from the company’s beginnings in the 1960s and the design of its famous swoosh logo; to iconic products such as Air Max and Flyknit; and current research devoted to future materials and sustainability. The exhibition highlights how sport is a catalyst for both design innovation and social change, and also sheds light on the almost mythical devotion to sneakers and sportswear in popular culture.

Named after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike has become more than just a brand. It is a whole design culture. Products have been developed with a blend of scientific study, sports research, and aesthetic sensibility — from material engineering to biology to body mechanics. Athletes have played a uniquely influential role by bringing their own experiences and requirements into product development. Nike: Form Follows Motion offers a look behind the scenes of this design laboratory for the first time. Read More

 

September 2, 2024

Strike Fast, Dance Lightly

 
 
CLOCKWISE TOP LEFT: SAMUEL FOSSO, MUHAMMAD ALI, ST SEBASTIEN, FROM AFRICAN SPIRITS SERIES, 2008, COLLECTION OF ISABEL STAINOW WILCOX, COURTESY JEAN MARC PATRAS, PARIS; JARED MCGRIFF, THE PRACTICE OF SELF PROTECTION AT ALL TIMES, 2023, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SPINELLO PROJECTS; DANIEL ARSHAM, BLUE CALCITE BOXING SET, 2016, COLLECTION OF LARRY WARSH, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND PERROTIN, PHOTO: GUILLAUME ZICCARELLI; CHASE HALL, CHAMPION, 2023, ©CHASE HALL, PHOTO: JEFF MCLANE, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND DAVID KORDANSKY GALLERY

 

Opening at the Norton Museum of Art on October 26, 2024 is Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing. The exhibition will be the largest comprehensive survey of artistic representation of boxing in more than 20 years, and features paintings, videos, sculptures, and works on paper by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Edward Hopper, Ed Ruscha, Alison Saar, Derrick Adams, Hernan Bas, Katherine Bradford, and many more.

Spanning from the 1870’s through the present day, the Norton’s one of a kind presentation will illuminate the connections between boxing and society, while underscoring the rich history of the centuries old sport and its participants through all its complexities. The exhibition will explore the global and cultural impact of the sport with themes relating to the body, race and culture, sexuality, and the artist as boxer. Read More

 

May 24, 2024

The Architect of Pool Skateboarding

 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: HORNES NEST, 2016, ARTO SAARI; RAY BARBEE, POOLTOWN, 2012, ARTO SAARI; RUNE GLIFBERG, 2015, ARTO SAARI

 

Now on view through September 2024 at the Aalto2 Museum Centre in Jyväskylä, Finland is The Pool – The Origin of Pool Skateboarding, a series of four exhibitions that explore the pool design of legendary Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and its intersection with international skateboarding culture, as well as rap and hip-hop culture.

Three exhibitions focus on skateboarding, and the theme of the kidney-shaped design of the swimming pool at Aalto’s Villa Mairea that influenced Southern California pool design and skateboard culture. The fourth exhibition delves into the history of Finnish rap and the significant role of Central Finland in shaping the nation’s hip-hop culture.

Aalto2 Museum Centre is a unique meeting place of architecture, design and cultural heritage in the heart of Central Finland, and fulfills Alvar Aalto’s desire to create a forum to bring together a variety of art forms. It combines two buildings designed by Aalto: the Museum of Central Finland and the Alvar Aalto Museum. Read More

 

April 5, 2024

New Jersey to Hawaii: Surfing USA

 

 

Two new surf photography books published by Rizzoli make their debut this month, spanning the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, from New Jersey to Hawaii: I Heard There Were No Waves in New Jersey: Surfing on the Jersey Shore 1888-1984 by Danny Dimauro and Johan Kugelberg, and Carissa Moore: Hawaii Gold: A Celebration of Surfing by Carissa Moore.

I Heard There Were No Waves in New Jersey: Surfing on the Jersey Shore pays homage to the beaches and boardwalks of the Jersey Shore, often overlooked for the warmer waters of its Hawaii and California counterparts. This visual history celebrates the unique surf culture that has thrived on the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, and its influence on the worlds of surfing, skateboarding, and beyond. Read More

 

September 8, 2023

History Of Basketball In Fifteen Sneakers

 

 

The ultimate book for both hoops fans and sneaker obsessives, A History of Basketball in Fifteen Sneakers is a celebration of the iconic shoes and superstars who have defined the sport. Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, Reebok Pumps, Air Jordans and more, each chapter breaks down how each sneaker represented an era, transformed the culture, and changed the game.

A History of Basketball in Fifteen Sneakers is written with authority by former Complex and SLAM magazine editor Russ Bengtson. With full-color sneaker photographs and detailed illustrations throughout, the book is a kaleidoscopic celebration of the players, styles, and iconic moments that have shaped hoops both on and off the court. Read More

 

July 22, 2023

Shaping Surf History

 

 

 

FROM TOP: TOM CURREN, 1981; AL MERRICK AND STUDENTS, 1980; AL MERRICK WITH ONE OF HIS INNOVATIVE TWIN FIN SHAPES

 
Shaping Surf History: Tom Curren and Al Merrick, California 1980-1983, a new surf book from Rizzoli, documents a brief but influential period in surf history in Santa Barbara, California. It was an era that saw an extraordinary mix of innovation, individuals, and epic surf conditions on the back of a record-breaking El Nino — beautifully captured by author and photographer, Jimmy Metyko, in a visual encapsulation of one of the most fertile periods in the sport.

With dramatic action shots and personal vignettes, Metyko follows the rise of young legend-to-be and future three-time world champion Tom Curren, whose preternatural wave-riding abilities would help establish California at the forefront of contemporary surfing. He puts us on the waves with a remarkable view and insider’s perspective of the sport’s evolution embodied by this young surfer, whose singular style was enhanced by revolutionary board shaper Al Merrick of Channel Island Surfboards.

We recently chatted with Metyko about this era in surf history, his own evolution from surfer to photographer, and the compilation of work in his first book… Read More

 

December 19, 2021

Need for Speed

 


 

For decades, the Bonneville Salt Flats has welcomed various extraordinary automobile events, among which is the World of Speed. Every year in September, amateur and professional racing teams settle on the salt for a week to pursue their speed record dreams. In LANDSPEED 2, photographer Julien Roubinet explores this iconic gathering and otherworldly destination, embedded in the American car and DIY culture.

About 12 miles long and 5 miles wide, the Bonneville Salt Flats are a 30,000 acre expanse of hard, white salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake basin in Utah. The seemingly endless expanse creates a surreal environment, the perfect surface and location to reach speeds nearing 500mph. Read More

 

February 28, 2021

Against The Tides

 

BETH FRENCH

Against The Tides is the captivating story of British marathon swimmer and world record holder Beth French, and her quest to swim across the most dangerous open water crossings in the extreme challenge known as Oceans Seven. For marathon swimmers it is the ultimate test — the equivalent of climbing the Seven Summits in mountaineering — and very few people have ever completed it. Beth ups the ante with the goal to accomplish it in a single year which has never been done, even more unfathomable as she spent much of her youth in a wheelchair with a debilitating illness, unable to move.

The Oceans Seven consists of seven of the most unforgiving straits and channels around the world. There is The North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, 21 miles; The Cook Strait between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, 16 miles; The Molokai Channel between Molokai and Oahu, 27 miles; The English Channel between England and France, 21 miles; The Catalina Channel between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles, California, 21 miles; The Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, 12 miles; and The Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, 10 miles. Read More

 
 

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