We can all agree that skateboarding has been connected to art since the very beginning. In fact, if you allow me to say, skateboarding is pure creativity per se. Getting on a wooden board with wheels and creating movement and forms with it, a game in which the goal is to not to fall off… This concept of ‘landing a trick’ is something that I’m not sure if people who don’t skate could ever understand. Falling down, getting back up and trying it all over again. The eternal battle of trial and error. It’s all about learning, pure discipline, endless technique… A lot of our skate tricks have the name of their creator and I think this corroborates its condition of work of art.

Skateboarding is a tool to express oneself through movement, style, difficulty, the music you like… But most skateboarders also have a special talent for a diverse array of artistic disciplines: painting, drawing, music, photography, video edition…

In march last year, Adidas Skateboarding inaugurated the exhibition ‘Au Bout du Compte’ in Galerie Bête, Paris.

A group exhibition that gathers four artists (and skateboarders): Nora Vasconcellos, Liisa Nischolm, Nour de Bary and Margaux Sangolet, in an organic and unique body of work that highlights the artistic feeling that binds these four skateboarders together. Each of them from a different part of the world, so different yet with so much in common. We had the honor to attend the inauguration and ask them five quick questions.

Interview and photos by Raisa Abal

NORA VASCONCELLOS

Describe yourself in three WORDS

Goofy, Tenacious and Adaptable.

Where does your inspiration come from?

I think it comes from a bit of everything, primarily my love for skateboarding and making my friends laugh. I find that people who are pursuing activities they love while not taking themselves too seriously gets me hyped.

How do you see female skateboarding and the skateboarding industry from a skater and creative person’s perspective?

I see so much space for girls and women to find skateboarding and use it as a tool to have fun, meet people and be the best versions of themselves. There’s room for everyone. I love watching different approaches and the varied journeys that skateboarding creates for people.

How has skateboarding influenced your artistic journey?

I think that the drive skateboarding gives a person is the same that creating art does. It can feel obsessive but it can also create a release. For myself it’s the practice and the result. I love trying tricks and battling them the same way I enjoy painting and seeing a project come to life. Then the satisfaction of having a new trick landed and part filmed is comparable to finishing an art piece.

What’s your motto?

I don’t know… find what you love and let it help you be the best version of yourself. Don’t ever take yourself too seriously.

Nora Vasconcellos by Zander Taketomo

NOUR DE BARY

Describe yourself in three WORDS

I’m Messy, always looking for fun times, and passionate (about food mostly).

Where does your inspiration come from?

From not sitting at a desk! Biking does a lot. I need to get lost, discover new streets, new people, new practices and cultures. I need to be alone for a little bit but then with friends! Changes, surprises, accidents, they bring new ideas!

How do you see female skateboarding and skateboarding industry from a skater and creative person perspective?

I see it evolving. As the industry is getting big, and performance is being redefined by new levels of competitions and exposure through those, the need for a crazy, creative, fun and free skateboarding culture is even more obvious.

That’s where people like Nora and Maïté, but also Marbie, Shag and Chandler (and so many more) make a huge difference. Growing up in Paris we were lacking of queer and female representation, it was rough. Now I can definitely see the impact they made on a new generation of skaters here.

How has skateboarding influenced your artistic journey?

I started drawing with trying type works, copying skate stickers. Gonz definitely influenced my look on illustration.And today I feel like the works of Jeff Chung has helped me a lot finding new freedom in my works. You have to be bold and true. That’s what skateboarding has taught me I think, be raw and free, and have fun with it. I grew up with skateboarding imagery, its codes are imprinted in my brain. Even though I sometimes try not to, I’m always using skateboarding in my work, wether its exploring sensations in my drawings, or designing layouts like a skatemag. It’s a big part of who I am. 

What’s your motto?

I’m gonna be basic on this one but, FUCK THE SYSTEM! (In every way possible) 

Nour de Bary by Raisa Abal