Turning Tricks

Michele Lamy and Danny Minnick reimagine some of Southern California’s most iconic skate locations in a 2-month exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery Los Angeles.

From the subcultural streets to the Olympic Games: skateboarding is more than an activity done with the body but a developing movement. What started as a cult of outcasts and underdogs, from which legendary cool icons have risen. Today skateboarding has evolved onto the global stage as an established phenomenon and an energizing emblem for uplifting developing communities.

Turning Tricks has its roots in Southern Californian culture. Well-known as the birthplace of skateboarding, Los Angeles is ground zero to some of the most iconic skate spots in the world. While still an illegal activity or nuisance in public space, the subculture continues to evolve and turn certain locations into their arena. Many of which no longer exist. Namely, the Venice Sand Pit, originally a municipal picnic area, transmogrified into the birthplace of Guy Mariano’s famous Switch Pop Shuvit Grind. The exhibition also underscores the importance of basic street objects and recognizes them as instrumental to the development of innumerable tricks in the skateboarding lexicon.