Muska at New Image Art

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Transitions – the first solo art offering from Chad Muska – opens this Saturday (June 1) at New Image Art in West Hollywood.  7-10 PM.  7920 Santa Monica Boulevard.  Sounds pretty sick.

From the press release:

“The show represents a lot to me,” Chad said. “It’s about the struggles I’ve been going through in life and what’s next after being a pro skater, something that I’ve done my whole life. Transition is a universal idea that everyone can relate to whether you skate or not, but it’s strongly connected to the roots of skateboarding which is about bending the world to your will and making it ridable—a world without transition is a world that is dull and flat.”

Chad’s new style appears at first to be a huge departure from the graffiti and wheat paste art he’s been known for in skateboarding for years. These new minimal pieces are heavy and stark, constructed from steel, concrete, and other industrial materials, and contain elements that are redolent of Mark Rothko, Richard Serra, and Anselm Keifer. They’re serious, yet they retain a playfulness that speaks directly to the mind of a skateboarder—there’s a movement and a work-in-progress element throughout the show that echoes the spirit of skateboarding which has always been a lifestyle devoted to the journey, not the destination.

“Skateboarders, look at metal and concrete already as objects of artistic expression,” Chad said. “It’s like a canvas. And now the mediums that I’m using are metal and concrete. It’s so funny, but that’s why I think I’m attracted to these materials: because I’ve spent my entire life looking at the concrete sidewalk that I’m riding down.”

By Joe Castro

Joe Castro is a collage artist, musician, oil painter and graphic designer currently lurking somewhere between Philadelphia and Delaware. For more info, visit mightyjoecastro.com