Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Graphopoli 2008






La Torre, building near the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. This mural was part of Graphopoli, a proyect by the Mueso de Arte de Puerto Rico.


Photo by Braulio Espinosa.

The process of The Bowl



For those of you here intrested... I post some photos of the creative process on the making of The Bowl. On April 2008 I traveled to Puerto Rico (mi isla) to transform a dumped pool near the rainforest into a skate bowl. With the collaboration of Playwood Media, skateboarding video crew, and local skaters (Samyr, Yariel, Norbert, Boligoma, Huck, Pelu, Alexis, Kidell, Lengy, Fernie, MadRican and others) we clean and paint the site in 5 days.



















The first day we took off all the plants and dirt off the pool. The second day the pool got flooded because of a tropical storm, so my friends help me to get the water out. By the third and forth day I painted a design on the bowl's floor. On the fifth day I finished the painting installation and we were able to ride. That day Robert Lopez, local skaters and the Misiles de Racimo Crew went to skate the bowl.

This project invades with color abandoned spots that can be skate. Thur the re-construction and use of abandoned urban spaces I pretend to establish a dialog between my artwork and the skater culture. At the moment we finish The Tropical Storm video that include the cleaning and painting process of the Bowl, combined with a skate sessions. I will upload some of it soon!!!



Mr. Mark Gonzalez



Yo! This is so ill!!! One of my favorite artist and skater in top of some
ramps I painted at the New Design School, Lower East Side, NY.

For more info on my skate projects visit Skatebook.tv.




Big thanks to Paula Hewitt and Billy Rohan from Open Road for the pictures. And to RIMX for the character.

The Tropical Storm @ Maganan Projects, NYC



Fascinated by the multi-layered aspects of skateboarding culture, she developed The Tropical Storm Series after moving to New York. This series is divided into three major projects: the Broken Boards, the Bowl, and the Skate Bags. This exhibition opens up a dialog on the use of abandoned objects and spaces. It also explores disregarded aspects of the skateboarding culture.



Skater @ opening nite Robert Lopez. (Special thanks to Dustin and Adrian from RockStar Bearings for the ramp!)


The Broken Boards is a series of installations using found dilapidated skateboard decks. These decks remind her of the remains found after the devastation of hurricanes in the Caribbean. This project creates an aesthetic correlation between broken decks and materials that are residues of disaster.

The Bowl consists of the transformation of an abandoned swimming pool in the rainforest into a skate bowl. Like Sofia’s murals, skaters invade and bring new life to abandoned spaces. Through this project she generates a dialog about the revitalization of neglected sites.



The Skate Bags consist of limited edition hand-made gear that brings an element of femininity to the industry. They work to produce a new canon within the skater culture. They are stylized conceptions for the working woman that uses the skateboard as a means of transportation.

This exhibition compiles a diverse body of work establishing a dialog between Sofia’s artwork and the use of space and objects in society today. For more information visit Magnan Projects, NY.

The Bowl




The Bowl, from the Tropical Storm Series, consists of the transformation of an abandoned swimming pool in the rainforest into a skate bowl. Like my murals, skaters invade and bring new life to abandoned spaces. Through this project I generates a dialog about the revitalization of neglected sites.
Photo: Adres Mora / Skater: Robert Lopez / Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Read the article that CultureServe.net did of this project, Flavor: Skatebowl, Puerto Rico. And the shooting that Alfred Ruiz did with the Misiles de Racimos Crew at their skate tour for the video.