When you think of the famed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, skateboarding might not be what immediately comes to mind, but limited edition decks will be the product of her upcoming collaboration with MoMA. In October, the gallery will release boards featuring two of Kusama’s spotty works: Yellow Trees (1994) and the aptly-named Dots Obsession (2018), which was created specifically for the project.
There will also be a board featuring a design lifted from the seminal artist’s screen-printed Infinity Nets (2000). Despite the name, it bears little resemblance to her Infinity Mirror Skate Deck from 2017, taking a much more graphic approach.
These Kusama designs aren’t the first time the MoMA has dipped into their collection to create custom skateboards; they’ve previously offered decks based on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings and Andy Warhol’s famous soup cans, among others.
They might, however, be the first to have been (partly) hand-painted by the artist. MoMA reportedly told It’s Nice That that “the original skateboards began as samples based on digital renderings of details from Kusama’s work. They were sent to Kusama’s studio in Tokyo for her approval. After reviewing them, Kusama decided they needed to be altered. She then meticulously hand-painted her famous motif over each deck.”
Obviously, the boards will be very exclusive, released in a run of 500 on the MoMA online store. Art and skating fans alike will have to be quick on the refresh button.
