Wave of art exhibits reflect popularity of surf culture

• Contemporary issues, surf meld in 'Blue vs. Blue'

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

"Media Miracle," 1999 by Kevin Ancell. This painting is oil on wood, 72 by 48 inches, from the collection of Judy and Stuart Spence. Images courtesy of Contemporary Museum

"Surf Bebop," 1963, by John Severson. This painting is an oil on canvas, 30 by 30 inches, from the Gordon McClelland collection. 'Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing' Through March 30 Contemporary Museum 526-1322 Related events Tomorrow and March 8: Surf Family Days, on-site demonstrations by board shapers and airbrush artists, hands-on art activities, docent tours of the "Surf Culture" exhibition, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (activities noon to 4 p.m.) at The Contemporary Museum. Free to Contemporary Museum members; free to the public with regular museum admission. Feb. 26: "Surf Photography," gallery talk with Jon Mozo, 6 p.m. at The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center. Free. March 5: "The Ancient Hawaiian History of Surfing," gallery talk with Ben Finney, 6 p.m. at The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center. Free. March 12: "Hawai'i's Image in Advertising," gallery talk with De-Soto Brown, 7 p.m. at Wo Center (Punahou School). Free. For information and reservations, see tcmhi.org or call 526-1322.

The Contemporary Museum gives viewers an opportunity to explore that progression with its new show, "Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing." The show features more than 200 pieces of art and artifacts reflecting the history, culture, fashion, commerce and politics of surfing, drawn from an even more expansive show organized by the Laguna Art Museum in California. Telling pieces from Hawai'i artists and collections have been included here.

If attention is what the museum is after, surfing is a savvy topic. The mainstream in the United States and abroad can't seem to get enough of surfing. Consider the scene last year when the production crew for the movie "Blue Crush" found themselves competing for wave space on O'ahu with shooters from Sheryl Crow's "Soak up the Sun" video — and surfers too, no doubt.

"One of the characteristics of contemporary culture is the tremendous crossover between worlds and disciplines," said Jay Jensen, the museum's associate director and chief curator. "The boundaries between art and lifestyle aren't as strong anymore. Everything melds together, and everything has to be seen in the context of a whole. Surfing is not its own small, closed world anymore. It's part of the mainstream culture."

If the recent wave of surf exhibits in local galleries doesn't confirm that, the Jan. 30 sneak preview of "Surf Culture" proved that surf-themed exhibits are an increasingly attractive draw.

A crowd of about 800 members and guests — more than double the usual turnout for a reception — crowded the Makiki Heights museum, mixing wine-and-cheese gallery regulars with chili-and-hot dogs surf afficionados (the pupu offerings wisely accommodated both). One night later, "Blue vs. Blue: Surfing in Art" attracted an opening crowd of about 500 people at The ARTS at Marks Garage (see sidebar).

But despite the popular subject matter, this exhibit does have highbrow concerns. Where other recent surf exhibitions have concentrated on the surfboard as design art, "Surf Culture" demands and presents deeper aesthetic consideration.

"It presents a new look at surfing in the context of art history and contemporary art," Jensen said. "My goal was to not just do a history of surfing — that's implicit in the objects and images in the exhibition. ... I wanted objects and images with a strong artistic, aesthetic quality."

Near the entrance to the exhibition space is a massive, 150-pound koa board dating back to 1830 that once belonged to Chief Abner Paki. The well-known board, on loan from the Bishop Museum, has been out of public view for years. Nearby is an ultra-thin koa board believed to have been used by Princess Ka'iulani.

There are 40 surfboards on view, including six from local collections. On the night of the preview, visitors seemed particularly intrigued by a 1935 "Swastika" surfboard produced by Pacific Systems, one of the earliest commercial board makers. The "Swastika" line was discontinued in 1938 because of the symbol's association with Nazism.

In addition to seminal surf-art paintings such as Milford Zornes' 1956 watercolor "Surfers at Corona del Mar," which demonstrated the then-innovative drybrush technique, the exhibition also covers pop art items such as Rick Griffin's Grateful Dead posters and Murphy comic strips, and John Van Hamersveld's classic "Endless Summer" movie poster.

The lower gallery includes a section on "Finish Fetish," the 1960s California art movement that grew alongside surfing's shortboard revolution. Both were inspired by innovations in plastics and other materials used by the aeronautics industry.

A companion exhibition, "Surf Culture: Surf Photography and Board Design in Hawai'i," is up from Feb. 14 to May 13 at The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center. "Surf Culture," a mammoth, full-color 240-page book designed by David Carson, also is available.

Contemporary issues, surf meld in 'Blue vs. Blue'

"Al-Qaeda Don't Surf," 2003. St. Marko made this design for silkscreening on T-shirts and stickers. Courtesy The Arts at Marks Garage 'Blue vs. Blue: Surfing in Art' 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, through Feb. 22 The ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nu'uanu Ave. Free; 521-2903

In fact, early versions of "Blue vs. Blue" pre-date "Surf Culture," Richardson said. The show, organized by curator Bob Carrillo, has drawn enthusiastic responses on the West Coast since it first appeared as "Surf Trip" in 1997.

The exhibition features works by a host of California artists, including David Anderson, Gomez Bueno and Elizabeth Pepin, as well as works by Hawai'i artists such as Yesenia Barreto, Mark Chai and Jeff Giacobetti.

Maui performance artist St. Marko contributed an installation of "surf and semiotics" pieces that explore contemporary issues of war and peace as they play out in the collision of geopolitics and surf culture.

St. Marko's "Bunker Beds," for example, is an artistic response to last year's nightclub bombing on Bali, which killed some of the artists' surfer friends from Maui. The bottom "bunk" of the piece is a collection of words and phrases extracted from news accounts of the bombing, taken out of context to convey new meaning. The top "bunk" features images of the 10 most-wanted suspects in the bombing.

The exhibition also features notable names. California graffiti artist Barry McGee contributed pieces, as did local surf icon Jeannie Chesser.