Common Shred: Take the Art off the Wall and Ride It

There’s not much of a difference between a skate shop and an art museum. One smells a little skunky and blasts Suicidal Tendencies. The other charges 20 bucks and shows off pieces on loan for millionaires’ tax write-offs. But only one of them lets you take the art off the wall and ride it.

“Skateboards are like paintbrushes,” says Ryan Harrington, owner of Harrington Art Studio and curator of “Common Shred,” a new group show on display there. To him, it’s less about tricks or trophies and more about community, creative expression and how a board becomes an extension of its rider.

For Harrington, the connection between skating and art goes back to his earliest days on a board. Like a lot of young skaters in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he’d stare at the walls of his local skate shop, drawn in by the bold graphics and bright colors — especially the work of skateboard art legend Jim Phillips, the artist behind Santa Cruz’s Screaming Hand and other iconic designs in skate history.

“A lot of the featured locals are people I call friends … People that I’ve skated with, either meeting them through skateboarding or meeting them through art then finding out we both skateboard.”

“Jim Phillips was probably my first real influence,” Harrington says. “His stuff just jumped off the wall. It wasn’t just the bold colors — it was the whole aesthetic. Skulls, flames, screaming faces — it was wild.”

That iconic style didn’t end with Phillips himself. His son, Jimbo Phillips, has carried forward the distinct, bold and chaotic flair into a new generation of skate graphics. Among the works showcased in “Common Shred” is “Skatesquatch,” a skating Sasquatch print on canvas by Jimbo that feels right at home among the show’s mix, a fitting nod to the weird, rebellious aesthetic that shaped both the Phillips name and skateboarding itself — art that Harrington continues to admire.

The artist lineup blends well-known names with rising Salt Lake locals, all tied together by Harrington’s own connection to the scene. “A lot of the featured locals are people I call friends,” Harrington says. “People that I’ve skated with, either meeting them through skateboarding or meeting them through art then finding out we both skateboard.”

“Jim Phillips was probably my first real influence … His stuff just jumped off the wall. It wasn’t just the bold colors — it was the whole aesthetic. Skulls, flames, screaming faces — it was wild.”

Russ Pope’s work is easy to spot, marked by his loose, cartoonish lines and shapes. A longtime contributor to skateboarding and art, Pope also runs the skate company Transportation Unit, which sponsors “Common Shred.”

Not far from Pope’s work hangs a piece by Jared Steffensen, curator at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) in Salt Lake City. His piece, “Nosey Taily #33,” is a recycled skateboard sculpture mounted high on the wall with a sort of spiral illusion effect. It probably deserves a warning sign: Stare too long, and you might end up with a permanent stargazing face.

The show is also raising money for two local nonprofits tied to skateboarding. A portion of every sale goes to S.T.A.Y. (Somebody’s Thinking About You), which raises awareness, reduces stigma and educates the action sports community about mental wellness and suicide prevention. It also supports Pushing Ahead, “which brings skateboarding to groups who might not otherwise have access to it,” according to their mission statement.

By the time you’ve worked your way through “Common Shred,” the show feels less like an exhibit and more like a conversation between friends who’ve been meeting up at the skatepark for years. Each piece has something to say. There’s no scene-setting description telling you what the artist was thinking; in other words, no over-intellectualizing. Whether you understand the artist’s intent or not, the art itself is just damn cool to see. Just look, smile, appreciate — maybe even buy something, so you can tell your friends you have taste.

“Skateboards are like paintbrushes.”

“Common Shred” runs through Monday, July 14 at Harrington Art Studio in Midvale. For more information, check out harringtonart.com or find them on Instagram at @harrington_art_studio. Go see it for yourself — you’ve got no excuse not to.

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