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August 3 – September 28, 2019

The Carnegie Center presents Blunt: Inspiration in Transition, a group exhibition of artwork by prominent local and national artists whose lives and work are influenced by the creative culture of skateboarding. This exhibition celebrates the New Albany Flow Park—a skateable work of public art, opening in 2019.

A special opening reception for Blunt will be held during Night at the Carnegie on August 2, 2019 from 8-10 PM. The cost of admission is free to Carnegie Members and $15 for Non-Members. Night at the Carnegie is an art-infused evening of music and drinks. Tickets are available by CLICKING HERE.

The term “blunt” comes from an advanced skateboarding trick where a skateboarder stalls vertically with their back wheels and truck resting on the top of a surface edge and the skateboard tail below the edge. It requires a great deal of practice, balance, and faith in execution to make something so difficult seem so effortless.

“Transitions,” in skateboarding terminology, are the upward curving slope of bowl and ramp walls. Transitions provide skaters smooth shifts from horizontal to vertical orientation and back again as they travel between the lowest to highest points of ramps and bowls. They provide a brief window of time where a skater’s perspective changes without any extraneous thought or effort.

Skateboarding’s history is inextricably intertwined with art and creativity. The act of skateboarding is a living embodiment of the intersection of art and sport, of creativity and physical activity. The world as seen through the eyes of a skateboarder becomes an exercise of seeing untapped potential in inanimate objects.

Skateboarders combine unique spatial awareness with a drive to express themselves through action. They possess a perseverance to improve and push their personal limitations. They are able to look at the landscape and plan for the future, while simultaneously acting in the present, adjusting instinctively while on the move. Always moving in the forward, and making adjustments without thought. These personal characteristics aren’t relegated solely to the act of skateboarding, however, but often find themselves spilling over into other aspects of skateboarders’ lives.

Born with a DIY, grass-root dynamism, skateboarding culture has had major influences on art, architecture, fashion, music, and graphic design. This exhibition honors the contributions that skateboarding has had on the lives of many artists. Blunt shares the work of artists who are able to transition energy from a skatepark to a studio and demonstrate the honest and open approach to art making, created without pretense.

Participating artists include:

Lacey Baker

 

Lori Damiano

 

Mark Gonzales, appearing courtesy of Franklin Parrasch Gallery.

 

Ben Horton

 

Matthew McDole 

 

Joseph Minek

 

Don Pendleton

 

Jared Steffensen

 

Tony Tafuro

 

Leon Washere

 

Header image: Pink QP by Jared Steffensen.

The Carnegie Center for Art and History would like to thank Franklin Parrasch Gallery for all their help with this exhibition.

 

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