"Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing"
2002-07-28 until 2002-10-06
Laguna Art Museum
Laguna Beach, CA, USA United States of America

Is surfing a cultural activity? The connection between art and surfing reaches back 3,000 years to Peru, where some of the world's first historians carved bas-reliefs of surfers. The intersection of the surf and art realms today, however, extends far beyond art documenting life. Both have stretched to encompass each other and the areas of popular culture and commercialism. This shift illustrates one of the most pervasive themes of 20th century art- the blurring of boundaries. Art today incorporates graffiti, advertisements and everyday items, and surfing is as much about clothes, attitude and punk music as it is hitting the waves.

Surf Culture - The Art History of Surfing, on view at the Laguna Art Museum from July 28 through October 6, 2002, explores this phenomenon through the work of an equally cross-disciplinary group of artists who surf and surfers who make art. The presenting sponsor for this exhibition is Quiksilver, based in Huntington Beach, which is a significant match, since a surf-wear manufacturer has never been a major supporter of a museum exhibition.

IMAGE:

Wayne Lynch, 1978,
at his home in Lorne Victoria, Australia, with seminal V-bottom surfboard
c. 1969. Photo by Art Brewer Studio.