Jan 06, 2015 Rich Jacobs at Proper LBC, a bunch of skaters at Agenda
Last night Oakland artist, zinemaker, and DIY champion Rich Jacobs had a party at Proper LBC to celebrate the release of his new shoes by Vans. For the event, he spray painted his largest works yet. While the pieces were huge, the aesthetic remained humble. The canvases were generic drop cloth from Home Depot. The studio space was the lot behind the Revelation Records warehouse in Huntington Beach. Rich walked over the pieces, bending over to apply the many layers of paint, and you can actually see his footprints on the works. When his back was too thrashed from all that leaning, he made his first-ever sculpture pieces out of free scrap from the same hardware store.
There were some pretty cool shoes, too, but most of the excitement was generated by the free flowing work, which the veteran of the hardcore scene said was more like free jazz than anything else he has ever done. I was also stoked by all the pals who also made time to see Rich and his new work: Skater, musician, photographer, and Long Beach local Ray Barbee, Jordan Cooper from Revelation Records, Trisan Caruso from Proper (and his brother/my friend Erik, who left by the time this photo was taken), photographer and musician Ben Clark, and artist and musician Sandy Yang. That’s a deep crew, and we weren’t disappointed to walk away with zines, prints, and CDs (music by Rich along with Tim Kerr) in addition to a night of rad art and even better friendship.
Not coincidentally, there was a trade show a couple of blocks away. At Agenda, I got to see a bunch of friends who rip on a board and wheels. There was Justin Reynolds, who showed me the brand new and super fun Brad Parker/Gnaratz deak. He’s of the nicest, most supportive dudes ever, and you might remember that contributed to Imprint’s Long Beach: Work in Progress talk. And I always have to pay my respects to Jeremy Klein. I’ll always be grateful that Hook-Ups advertised on the back cover of Giant Robot mag for every single issue, even though we hardly covered skating. Levi Brown is one of the many rippers who attended the Long Beach: Work in Progress talk, and I was stoked when he called out “Martin!” as I walked by the New Balance booth…
Donny Miller is another guy who said hi as I was wandering around massive trade show. I don’t know as many people as you think, so every time that happens it’s awesome. I was told that he printed out the Microsoft posters the night before, and someone from the Seattle tech company grabbed one off the wall! It was nice to run into Paul “Animal” Chan outside, too. In addition to promoting everything awesome in the SGV (mostly skateboarding and food), he’s been working hard on the Middle Classy brand. Check out that sweet backpack he’s wearing! And there was another skate industry vet who was telling me about something new… Tim Gavin is unveiling his new Filament brand, which you’ll be reading about on this site soon enough.
There were also some legends that I couldn’t not visit. Jim Muir is a famous Dogtown shredder who started up a Suicidal Tendencies skate brand. Possessed to skate–and also a really nice guy. Christian Hosoi was hanging out by a pile of prints, so how could I not tell Holmes how much I dug watching him skate doubles with Lance Mountain at the TVOTR video shoot a few months ago or invite him to the next save Music in Chinatown show. He said he used to see a lot of shows in Chinatown but can’t remember any of them. And finally, SLAYER!!! By the time I got there, the Emerica booth was out of passes for the Earthless gig at Alex’s Bar so that will have to be the final word/vinyl conflict.
For more articles, events, and announcements, follow Imprint Culture Lab via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.