CULTURE

GQ Tells Kunle Martins’s Story Via IRAK Profile

Published

2 years ago

August 31, 2021

Skate Newswire

Kunle Martins is an icon of the downtown scene, who is just now gaining the recognition that he deserves in the art world nearly two decades after his contemporaries blew up. And IRAK’s influence can still be seen in brands driving the culture today. GQ’s profile does a fantastic job of telling the graffiti crew’s story with its founder planted at the center. This is the perfect companion piece to Cheryl Dunn’s Dash Snow documentary.

By this point, IRAK weren’t just repainting downtown; they were rewiring it, making new connections between cultural movements. They brought together skateboarders and fashion models and ravers and blue-chip artists and legendary Bronx graffiti writers and less legendary wannabe vandals from New Jersey. We take for granted that all of these worlds are constantly colliding—fashion and art and music are now all part of one cultural spectrum—but that wasn’t always the case. With Martins as a kind of spiritual leader, those who fell under the IRAK umbrella weren’t seeking out others who were just like them. That’s exactly what they were trying to escape. They were looking for people who were different, as different as they were themselves.

Noah Johnson delivers again with his latest piece.

Images Via Alessandro Simonetti & Kai Regan Studio

Related Topics:Archive IRAK Kunle Martins

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CULTURE

Meet the 63-Year-Old Female Skateboarding Pioneer

At 63 years old, Judi Oyama continues to push the limits and break barriers in the world of skateboarding while preserving its rich history for future generations to enjoy

Published

2 months ago

March 9, 2023

Skate Newswire

At 63 years old, Judi Oyama continues to push the limits and break barriers in the world of skateboarding while preserving its rich history for future generations to enjoy.

She started skateboarding when she was 13. To this day, she still takes part in slalom competitions and is even a member of the US Slalom Skateboarding team.

I’ve been skateboarding for over 50 years, and I want to see how long I can keep going.

As a pioneer of the sport, Judi was there for the inception of Independent Trucks and helped recruit many notable names to the Santa Cruz Skateboards team.

Judi also holds onto a treasure trove of skateboarding memorabilia, including rare boards, vintage magazines, and more. On top of that, she also helped curate for the NHS Skate Museum.

CULTURE

Solo Skate Mag Releases Matheus Du Bronks “Labirinto” Part

Published

3 months ago

February 22, 2023

Skate Newswire

Matheus Du Bronks delivered an impressive part in “Labirinto”, an independent full-length video project by Bruno Rocha.

Filmed for almost 5 years and in 8 countries, “Labirinto” also features Akira Utida, André Saide, Bruno Prado, Claudio Junio, Felipe De Carvalho, Gustavo Dos Anjos, Leonardo Favaro, Lucas Marques, Mauricio Carvalho/Patrick Vidal, Simone Terzi, and Tallys Junior.

The rest of the parts will be released on various skateboard channels.

Here’s what Bruno says about the video:

“More than a traditional full-length skate video the idea was to bring up moments of questioning and reflection about themes from existentialism to racism, through a collection of audio, animations, texts, and also some easter eggs hidden in the course of the video. The idea appeared in my mind in 2016 while I was studying the myth of ”Cretan Labyrinth”, that summed up tells the story about a labyrinth created in order to hide the negative side effect/s of King Minos greediness/greed. By applying the ideology of the myth to our current times, I still see ourselves trapped in a Labyrinth that keeps hiding from us the greed of this capitalistic world around us, leaving us lost in endless paths and taking us away from harmony, equality and love towards the other.”

CULTURE

Meet South Africa’s Soul Skaters in the Latest ‘Greetings From’ Episode

Published

4 months ago

January 31, 2023

Skate Newswire

Meet Beki, Mooki, and more than thirty other faces who make up some of the close-knit city skate scenes today as they welcome us into their skateboarding culture.

“Greetings From Johannesburg” lets us explore the skateboarding scenes thriving throughout the city in 2023, from Westdene DIY to the Island Gals and the mighty Skate Society Soweto.

“Greetings From” is a documentary series from Red Bull Skateboarding that takes you into the heart of our global skate scene’s favorite communities.