Objects of Art | The Skateboards

Taking inspiration from an existing Sèvres Porcelain from the famed Wallace Collection, Magnus Gjøen recontextualises an 18th century design for a vase onto the contemporary canvas of a skateboard. ‘Skate de Sèvres’ was donated by Magnus Gjøen to support Centrepoint and their tireless effort to end homelessness.

Magnus Gjoen a former designer for Vivienne Westwood has recently turned his hand to the art of print making, Gjoen creates images that are full of startling beauty as well as a profundity of thought.

His art explores the interaction between power and fragility, juxtaposing the two states for maximum conceptual effect. Using collage and bricolage, often layering sumptuous gold leaf against stark black and white, Gjoen’s work blends a range of styles and media, incorporating a street and pop aesthetic into a fine art approach. His pieces draw on history and allusion, using existing art works or fragments from the past to create his own, contemporary aesthetic.

Gjoen’s work treads a delicate line between humour and horror, and what is borne out of these two opposing forces is often haunting and unsettling, while always saturated with an unrivalled beauty. A tightrope walk of contradictions, Gjoen’s work is rich, evocative and unabashedly glamorous, a combination that marks the emerging British artist out as a unique force to be reckoned with.

The Sèvres Porcelain used in this artwork is courtesy of The Wallace Collection item number C335, C336, C269, C271 and was part of a collaboration with Skatetypch.