Icare - Plate 8 of Jazz, 1947 Skate Deck by Henri Matisse

This skateboard deck comes ready to hang with mounting hardware and is limited edition. 

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This solo edition is related to elements of Henri Matisse’s “Jazz” – a book of illustrations which he began creating in 1942. Initially inspired by the iconography of the circus, the publication was ultimately exploring the relationship between art and musical improvisation, featuring themes of folklore, mythology and travels. 

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The overwhelming use of blue in this works was not accidental. To the artist, it symbolized volume and distance. It was also a remnant of his early Fauvist practice, relying on contrasting colors, bold lines and structure. What may appear as a simplistic final product was, in fact, a painstaking and rigorous journey, seeking to achieve the “art of balance, of purity and serenity.”

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Our partners at The Skateroom donate a significant part of their profit to support social initiatives that make the world a better place.  

These skateboard decks come ready to hang with mounting hardware and are limited edition. 

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After a major surgery for a benign intestinal tumor, Henri Matisse was bedridden and unable to continue with his regular routine of painting and sculpture. The “cut-outs” became his preferred technique, requiring only scissors and gouache-painted paper prepared by a team of assistants. Often focusing on human silhouettes, inspired by his collection of African sculptures and trips to Tahiti, Henri Matisse would carefully arrange pieces of paper into intricate compositions, miraculously achieving a sense of volume and movement on the flat surface of the page. This is the case of “Blue Nude II”, one of the most recognizable pieces from the eponymous series, available now as a skate art triptych. 

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The overwhelming use of blue in this works was not accidental. To the artist, it symbolized volume and distance. It was also a remnant of his early Fauvist practice, relying on contrasting colors, bold lines and structure. What may appear as a simplistic final product was, in fact, a painstaking and rigorous journey, seeking to achieve the “art of balance, of purity and serenity.”

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Our partners at The Skateroom donate a significant part of their profit to support social initiatives that make the world a better place.  

This skateboard deck comes ready to hang with mounting hardware and instructions and is part of a limited edition of 500. The top print features a printed signature.

‘Women Are Heroes’ is a project launched by JR to tell the stories of those who are often the first to be harmed in situations of conflict: women. By revealing the unspoken grief of these unsung heroes, JR explores the commonalities that exist in their gaze, and ultimately seeks to discover what unifies us all is humanity. Despite the harshness they have endured, he exposes the light and hope that still exists within them.

When the project launched, JR promised to share their stories with the world – a promise he has since kept, and that we are grateful to continue through the release of these editions.

Our partners at The Skateroom, who collaborated with the artist's estate to make this edition, donate a significant part of their profit to support social initiatives that make the world a better place. 

The 4th is released in a limited edition size of 100. Based on a 2012 13-feet tall piece composed of two stacked panels. As Tatiana Istomina describes the work, ‘The upper [panel] shows the monumental form of a black woman in a white T-shirt; she holds what looks like a potato chip in one manicured hand and a barbecue fork in the other… Like many of Taylor’s best paintings, the work transcends the particular circumstances of the depicted event, transforming it into a metaphorical statement of epic proportions… Although her appearance is firmly rooted in the everyday life of contemporary America, the scale, posture, and gravity of the figure connects her to timeless icons of fertility and power, from Paleolithic Venus figurines to traditional African sculpture and early Renaissance Madonnas.