An Interview with Todd Francis, Skateboard Artist & Visual Instigator
“only a handful of artists have stuck around skateboarding long enough to not only tell its story, but have any type of arc or evolution. Still pissed, still “shitty,” and still a part of skateboarding, Francis is absolutely at his best when he’s at his worst.”
I had the amazing pleasure of meeting and photographing Todd Francis for THE HUNDREDS, on the night of his exhibition “Worst of the Worst” at House of Vans, which chronicled two decades of graphics with Anti-Hero skateboards. Head over to their site to read the full interview by Anthony Pappalardo.
New Website!
Just made major updates to my website including photos from my zine SAKURA with Takahiro Morita (online for the first time!), my shoot with the legend, Mark Gonzales, and Vans x Our Legacy with Youth of Today for Paper Magazine, and lots more! Please check it out: colegiordano.com
Woodstock and Kaaterskill Falls
Some photos from a recent weekend to upstate New York in Woodstock and a hike up Kaaterskill Falls.
Shot with a Nikon EM on Kodak Porta 800.
No Trend – Ace Hotel
Very excited to be showing alongside a group of truly talented artists in this show at the Ace Hotel, NY, of the course of the month of March, 2017. The show opened to the public last weekend and will close March 26th, with a closing party on March 23.
Here’s a description of the show from the Ace Hotel’s Website:
GALLERY: NO TREND
SATURDAY MAR 04 — SUNDAY MAR 26
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – GALLERY, NEW YORK
The birth of modern American skateboarding occurred sometime in the 1940s or 50s with surfers looking for ways to ride the pavement. Although no one can confirm who first thought to strap wheels to a crate, we can all agree that skaters have taken that simple deck and created a phenomenally attractive subculture that was, for better or worse, ripe for capitalization. But somehow, and despite decades of either exploitative or collaborative commercialization, skateboarding has always remained true to the skater, loyal to the bone to those that skate for the pure love and obsession of it.
Skaters have always expressed themselves as they see fit. They have an ineffable knack for practice and perhaps that drive — along with an irreverent attitude toward authority and a clear sense-of-self — allows them to move between the asphalt and the studio (or to even erase the distinction between skating and art) with such grace and aplomb.
NO TREND, curated by Anthony Pappalardo, looks to some exceptionally talented skaters whose fine-art practices define their real relationship to skateboarding, one where the work speaks for itself and noone else. Works by Cole Giordano, Pep Kim, Jonathan Mehring, Lou Sarowsky, Winston Tseng, Tyrrell Winston and Allen Ying.
Adidas Showcase, January 19 2017
Last night I had the honor of being in the first Adidas Showcase of 2017 – a group show of local artists from “skateboarding and beyond” – at the Soho Arts Club in New York’s Lower East Side. I showed some photos from my zine, Sakura, with Takahiro Morita, and some portraits of the one and only Mark Gonzales, originally shot for Paper and Jenkem magazines. It was truly a privilege to be a part of such a great night and show with so many other talented skaters and artists. Major thanks to Adidas Skateboarding and Josh Zickert of Natural Koncept for including me in the show, and Soho Arts Club for hosting. Short photo recap below. Check out the full recap from Juxtapoz Magazine here.
Work by Alex Fogt
Work by Dylan Goldberger
10 Years of NY Skateboarding by Rick Sulz
Work by Sean Stockton and Dennis Wiliford
Work by Sean Stockton
Luis Tolentino, Chris McDonald, and Rodney Torres with my photo of The Gonz
SAKURA Zine Now Available!
SAKURA is officially for sale exclusively in the Milk Gallery online store!
Shot in under two weeks in Japan, in the spring of 2016, “Sakura” explores how skateboarding interacts with the cherry blossom filled cityscape of Tokyo during this brief moment of the year when they are in bloom.
Limited edition of only 150 copies.
Featuring Takahiro Morita of Far East Skate Network
Designed by Mike Sikora
Published by the Milk Gallery.
Pick up a copy here!
Click here to watch the accompanying short film produced by FESN and myself.
And read some press on the zine from Vice and Creators Project here.
Soaker Promo for Wharfcat Records
Brooklyn based “punk, noise rock, [and] art-damaged sludge metal” band Soaker released their debut 7″ on Wharfcat Records today. These guys are great friends of mine, so I was stoked when they came to me with this out-there idea for a promo photo, which we had way too much fun working on.
You can read an amazingly sardonic interview with the band over at CLRVYNT, listen to their single from the record, Sendhi, on AdHoc, AND you can order yourself a copy from Wharfcat’s website here.
Congrats dudes!
