All of us can easily picture what a skateboard looks like. Four wheels below a wooden deck with all the fixings (trucks, baseplates, risers, bushings, you get the gist) that create an instantly recognizable mode of transportation, source of fun and personalized style. But for anyone who has never been part of a skate community or skated in a contest, cultural knowledge about the sport usually stops there.
Enter Jeffrey Cheung and Gabriel Ramirez, founders of local skate collective Unity and now guest curators at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Their new vivid installation, Unity Through Skateboarding, celebrates queer, trans, BIPOC and women skaters of the past and present, including the tight-knit communities they form.
Although the exhibition takes up only two rooms, Cheung and Ramirez have packed every inch of space with their collection. One of the first things you notice when you walk into the space is just how much vibrant color you’re surrounded by. Hanging in four neat rows on the wall in the first room of the exhibition are more than 30 skate decks, each featuring original painted artwork. Some of Cheung’s own artwork, which portrays bodies of all sizes, colors and shapes interwoven together on Unity skateboards, appears alongside designs by skaters like Mimi Knoop and the Oakland artist and skater Marbie.
On the opposing wall, you’ll find large banners and smaller pieces of artwork containing bits of typed reflections, handwritten announcements and pages of zines. In the center of the room is a large glass display case featuring copies of skate magazines with prominent skaters from across the globe on the covers. It’s a good reminder of just how far skate culture and community can reach, from the Bay Area, to Chicago’s froSkate, and even overseas in places like Ethiopia and the Philippines.
