From his studio in Cabillonum, the French artist Rom av.JC reinvents the representations of ancient leisure. Placing the skateboard at the heart of gladiatorial combat or the first events of the Olympic Games, the artist rewrites the history of this discipline. In the shape of jars with Greco-Roman motifs, the boards bear witness to the practice of skateboarding at a time when the city of Lyon was called Lugdunum.
Indeed, the latter takes old skateboards that he cuts, sands and assembles to form mural amphorae. Secondly, it is then armed with acrylic paint and sometimes also clay that he creates these works.
Just like the ceramics of the Greco-Roman era, the used skateboard is marked by its time. If the temporality is far from being the same, the bruises are similar. Broken, hammered, completely reduced to pieces, the skateboards at the end of their life are like these vases that resurface hundreds of years later: imperfect, but full of history.
Rom av.JC seeks to care for what’s left of the skateboard in the same way as the famous Japanese technique of wabi-sabi. In fact, it consists in recognizing the beauty in its imperfections. It is about restoring the board without masking the traces left by its use, but by rewriting its history. The abused skateboard is ennobled by taking on a new life… antique.
The skate artist has collaborated on series of skateboards with drink brands like Brewdog or Club Maté. As far as skateshops are concerned, the French stores Street Art in Thonon les Bains and ABS in Lyon have already trusted him.
Today, his art is not limited to only creating wall works in skateboards. Indeed, he cuts the boards to create real sculptures. Therefore, to see more about his art, check out his Instagram account or his website romavjc.com.
On this massive 110cm-diameter jar, it’s difficult to identify to which people these two soldiers belonged. What is clearly visible on this kylix, however, is what the wearer is wearing: a skateboard. Surprisingly, this skateboard has no trucks on it.…
After Club-Maté, the artist Rom av.JC has this time collaborated with French skateshop Street Art. And to celebrate the shop’s 20th anniversary, he has drawn a statue of the titan Atlas supporting Street Art’s emblematic logo. The Greco-Roman column on…
Researchers have discovered a Kylix – a shallow vase used for wine tasting – 110 cm in diameter, created by the artist Rom av.JC. This brings to light a previously unknown practice: Trukustabos. This game of skill, played at symposia…
For the 12th edition of Wheels and Waves in Biarritz, the artist Rom av.JC was invited to exhibit his new antiques. To mark the occasion, he added three new works measuring over a metre in diameter to his already well-known…
A team of archaeologists has unearthed an exceptional treasure in France: a jar in homage to Powell Peralta’s Skull and Sword design, created by the ancient artist Rom av.JC. This discovery is remarkable for its exceptional state of preservation. There…
One year after the limited series for Club-Maté, it’s another drink brand that asked me to make a skateboard graphic. And it’s a good thing, because it’s a beer brand that I particularly like. In short, last June, Brewdog France…
For its second edition, the exhibition Skateboarding is BLANKable by Decathlon Skateboarding will take place in the heart of Lille, at the Grand Playground. As always, the idea is to entrust each artist with an unshaped (and therefore rectangular) skateboard,…
As Pythagoras said, “The whole air is full of souls, and these souls are called demons and heroes. It is in fact a representation of a demon, or daemon, in Latin that we find on this amphora in the form…
On June 3, 2022, WAWI Gallery presents “Mystic Syncretism”, the group show by Yandy Graffer, Rom av.JC & Maxime Hurdequint. At a time when cultures and traditions are all influencing each other in real time, the three artists develop their…
Found just a few steps from the Martin Luther King Park, in Paris, this series of 3 kylix is entitled: “Kylix Videatur Desuper”. This Latin name means in French, Kylix vue de dessus, which makes sense because these are not…