Curator's Statement
"The new school jibber image that stuck in the mainstream public imagination portrayed snowboarders as badly behaved punks, but snowboarders were rejecting the played-out over-hyped caricature of themselves. Snowboarding had become pure image, manufactured and mediated to the point where the "soul" of snowboarding seemed to have evaporated. While alternative culture, technical skate tricks, and the SoCal infrastructure built a successful mediagenic machine out of snowboarding, many of the sport’s leaders were restless, uncomfortable with what now felt artificial. They sought a regrounding, a new source of respect. Where could they find it? The X-Games? The snowboard parks? Rolling Stone Magazine? Instead of looking outward, snowboarding took a look at itself to figure out how snowboarding was different from its influences. The answer was found in the mountains." —Susanna Howe, from Sick: A Cultural History of Snowboarding.
My curatorial efforts were not in choosing artwork that lived up to the art world standards that a gallery setting would usually enforce, but rather to let myself be led by what those people in the industry were looking it, what they thought was sick, what they wanted to see.... I called Marc, he told me to call George, who told me to call Graves who told me to call Iguchi and so on (see chart below). Some of the work I hadn't seen before it arrived at the gallery. In most cases, I called the participants, told them what I was doing, and invited them to send what they felt best spoke to the goals of the exhibition. Many of the participants have never shown their work in a gallery setting before.
It is clear the majority of the work seen here was done for commercial purposes, particularly in the case of the photography which was shot for publication. Having it here raises the question of whether FIRST DESCENT further legitimates an already wealthy industry. Jake Burton says in the winter catalog for his company, Burton Snowboards, "We’re not out to impress anyone but ourselves." That is a danger of this exhibition that I had no intention of becoming pray to. I hope instead the exhibition questions the creation and trajectory of a culture (from sub to mainstream) by speaking to how those on the inside view themselves and how they are seen (or want to be seen) from the outside.
In the short time that snowboarding has been popular, it has already returned again to base part of its image on something more common to skateboarding: jibbing—the sport of riding things not usually found on a mountain, like staircase banisters. Not long ago, the focus of snowboarding was the mountains. Given the context of the surrounding landscape here in Banff, this exhibition speaks more to that earlier moment. By putting it in a gallery, the image is already dated and historicised. So be it.
Sarah Cook, curator
Press Release
First
Descent is a group exhibition of work in all media by local and international
snowboarders. Within snowboarding culture more than in any other sport,
it is the creative talents of the participants that have shaped and motivated
the style and look of the industry. This exhibition examines the role aesthetics
plays in the athletics of the sport while probing the creation of culture
with a behind-the-scenes look at the snowboarding industry.
The most widely known art production in snowboard culture is its photography.
The work ranges from portraits to end-of-the-day shots by internationally
known photographers from Canada and the US, such as Mark Gallup, Trevor
Graves and Dano Pendygrasse and emerging photographers, Craig Douce and
Mike McPhee, from Calgary.
It is often the art that is made by the riders themselves that end up on
the base of the snowboards we buy. Tina Basich's paintings for her pro model
boards as well as recent art commissioned for Morrow Snowboards by Caia
Koopman and for K2 Snowboards by ames will be on exhibition. Dan Hudson
and other snowboarders are showing works inspired by the time they spend
travelling and riding.
The graphic design of the snowboarding industry will be represented by a
glance into the process of creating and marketing boards and gear - the
style and functionality of which has always been motivated by the riders
themselves. Tom Sims' and Jake Burton’s original snowboards from the early
days of the sport will be on display.
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