Tony Hawk – HVW8

The Skateboard Life — Book Signing & Holiday Sale

The Skateboard Life Book Signing & Holiday Sale
This Sunday, December 14 · 2–5pm · HVW8 Los Angeles

Join us this Sunday for a special afternoon celebrating the publication of The Skateboard Life. Author Dr. Neftalie Williams, PhD, will be in attendance for a live book signing, alongside a holiday sale at the gallery.

Come hang with Tyler Gibney, of HVW8 Art + Design Gallery in Los Angeles and Berlin, and Dr. Neftalie Williams, as we bring together the skateboarding and art community for an afternoon event.

The Skateboard Life is a vibrant, visual celebration of skateboarding, featuring more than 65 profiles of the sport’s most influential figures, from legends like Tony Hawk, Paul Rodriguez, Vanessa Torres, and Kareem Campbell, to Olympians Nyjah Huston and Sky Brown. The book also highlights artists such as Mark McKee, Spike Jonze, and Glen E. Friedman, along with cultural leaders and activists including Briana King, Amelia Brodka, and Leo Baker.

Signed copies will be available and make a perfect holiday gift.

We’ll also have select pieces, prints, and ephemera available at special holiday pricing.

Drinks and music are on the house.
We look forward to seeing you.

HVW8 Gallery Los Angeles
661 N. Spaulding Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Mark Gonzales mural for Tony Hawk’s new ‘Chick & Hawk’

Mark Gonzales mural for Tony Hawk’s new ‘Chick & Hawk’ restaurant in Encinitas.

Executed by Tait Roelofs with Tyler Gibney.

Mike Blabac – Family Portraits

For Immediate release: 11.5.19

“There are a very small number of people that have been photographing skating consistently for as long as I have. I’m lucky that my skateboard and camera have allowed me to travel the world with my friends skating just like I did as a kid growing up in the Midwest. Skating is like a family – I’ve known all those guys in the film for most of my life.” – Mike Blabac

HVW8 Art and Design Gallery in Los Angeles will host a book release party November 8 for legendary skateboard photographer Mike Blabac’s “Family Portraits,” published as a limited edition with just 500 copies available.

The evening will also include the premiere of Jacob Rosenberg’s short film, “Mike Blabac – Family Portraits,” as well as a selection of some of Blabac’s most iconic photos on display.

Over the last quarter century, Blabac captured an archive of skateboarding history, including Danny Way’s backside 360 over the Great Wall of China and Josh Kalis’s Love Park tre flip over the can.

But this collection isn’t just about skating and people flying through the air. The real trick is how Blabac’s work represents a group of kids who slowly changed the landscape of our culture while creating a family with ties that can’t be broken and the lessons they taught each other along the way.

With an accompanying short film by director and fellow skater Rosenberg, we are brought into an intimate world where everyone was welcomed as long as you had heart.

The viewer is treated to a depth of work only accessible through deep connection and trust.

After the one-two punch of the stunning portraits and the moving film, you will be moved by the intimacy and connection these artists share with you — even if you’ve never pushed off on a board.

Join us Friday, November 8th/ 7-10PM at the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery in Los Angeles for Mike Blabac’s Family Portraits book release and film premiere directed by Jacob Rosenberg with live music by Ray Barbee.

Please RSVP to RSVP@hvw8.com