By Hali Estrada. Photos by Gunther Estrada.
I think the best parts of living in California is having the opportunity to skate some of the most iconic spots in history and to watch first hand the progression of Skateboarding literally happening in front of our eyes; add to that the advantage of being only 10 to 40 minutes of the latest video premieres, contests, events and art shows and you will understand why we love living in sunny California.
Last Saturday we attend not 1 but 2 Art shows in just one night. Around 8:30 we were on our way to “Still Life with Wood” at the AR4T Gallery in Laguna Beach. “Still Life” showcased a collection of classic pictures from some of the best Photographers in Skateboarding; Grant Brittain, Dave Swift, James Cassimus, Miki Vuckovich, Jon Humphries and Atiba Jefferson.
Gunther Estrada, Grant Brittain and Hali Estrada.
We got the chance to meet Grant Brittain and after talking to him for a while he told us that in the mid 80’s he met a Professional Peruvian Skateboarder at Del Mar Skatepark; we thought it was Eddie Reategui ( Eddie was the first Peruvian ever to get Pro status in the States back in the 80’s ) but he told us that it wasn’t Eddie, it was somebody else but he couldn’t remember. We were very intrigued about that so its our job now to find out who this mystery Skateboarder was. After saying goodbye to Grant and getting a glass of wine we were on our way to Los Angeles to meet up with Alvaro, Ken and Diego for the Haroshi exhibition.
Huf and DLX partnered with Japanese Artist Haroshi to exhibit 5 of his sculptures, we knew about Haroshis art for a long time and we were looking forward to see it in person. Haroshi crafts his sculptures from recycled Skateboards and the detail of the each piece was incredible. Starting with the Spitfire wheel we were slowly walking around each sculpture trying to figure out how he did it, specially the intricate fire hydrant which Torey Pudwill ollied right before we got there. Tommy Guerrero and Ray Barbee were playing some great tunes, this guys are not only great Skateboarders but also very talented musicians, seeing them took me back to the Powell era and made me remember that Stacy Peraltas documentary about the Bones Brigade is gonna be ready very soon, we can’t wait to see it ;). In conclusion we had a great night with all our friends and we probably we’ll be doing it again very soon; here are some pics from both shows.
John Cardiel by Atiba. "ALL HAIL CARDIEL".
Natas Kaupas by Grant Brittain.
"Los Mysteriosos" were playing songs in Spanish for the crowd.
Atwuan by Atiba
Gunther Estrada and Skateboarding Legend Jeff Grosso.
The Bones Brigade by Grant Brittain.
The one and only Gonz by Grant Brittain, another Classic.
Dog head.
The fire hydrant.
Skateboarding Legend and musician Tommy Guerrero playing some tunes on the Guitar Sculpture.
Tommy Again after finishing the concert.
Diego Espinoza, Ken Mishima and Hali Estrada.
The Spitfire Wheel Sculpture.
Steven Treboux and Gunther Estrada.
Close Up of the guitar.
The hand.
The amazing Sal Barbier and Gunther Estrada.
