Katharina Grosse Creates Surfable Artworks for Parley

INITIATIVES
Written By Chris Hatherill
 
 

German artist Katharina Grosse has created a limited edition series of Firewire surfboard art pieces to support Parley’s Global Cleanup Network

 
 
 
 
 

Born in Freiburg but now living and working in Berlin, leading artist Katharina Grosse is known for an artistic practice that boldly challenges viewers' perception of space. Her most recent series was created directly on surfboards to support our Global Cleanup Network. Each unique piece is a surfable symbol for the oceans movement, and a call for creativity and change.

Fittingly, Grosse herself once compared the perception of her abstract color environments to a surfing experience: "It's an amazing feeling to swim through swirling underwater sandstorms while the water shapes the land." In this sense, the erratically painted surfaces of these works can be seen as a reverberation of the enigmatic and dynamic character of the seas. What is usually hidden, now becomes form and color, realigning connections with the world.

 
 
 
 
 
 

“I understand a painting as something that, as we view it, travels through us and realigns our connections with the world”

KATHARINA GROSSE

 
 
 
 
 
 

Grosse’s playful work has been shown at institutions worldwide, from the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow to Mass MoCA in the United States to K11 Art Foundation in China. The 20 Firewire surfboards in the series are constructed from sustainably sourced wood, reducing foam, resin and fiberglass use – uniting the worlds of art and surfing as messengers for the ocean cause.

Collaboration partner Firewire is at the forefront of innovation in the surf industry. Using their Timbertech Ecoboard-certified construction for this artwork is a symbol for change as this surfboard is made with sustainably sourced wood and bio-resin, which reduces its carbon footprint by over 35% versus traditionally built surfboards.

 
 
 

Katharina Grosse, Rockaway, 2016, MoMA PS1’s Rockaway! series, New York, site-specific installation

Katharina Grosse, Wunderbild, 2018, National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic, acrylic on fabric, 1.450 x 5.620 x 670 cm and 1.450 x 5.490 x 690 cm

 
 

Surfboard photos: Jens Ziehe © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2019

 
 
 
 
 

READ MORE

 
Featured
The photographer who saw glaciers calving in Patagonia and knew that the world had to see it too
The photographer who saw glaciers calving in Patagonia and knew that the world had to see it too

We speak with Avery Schuyler Nunn about her work as an environmental reporter seeking to answer the questions that she had as a kid

Parley AIR: The climate mental health crisis
Parley AIR: The climate mental health crisis

A look at how climate change impacts mental health, who is most impacted by eco-anxiety and how taking action can help you cope.

WHY THIS PHOTOGRAPHER SWAPPED FASHION’S FRONT ROW FOR THE FRONT LINE OF OCEAN CONSERVATION
WHY THIS PHOTOGRAPHER SWAPPED FASHION’S FRONT ROW FOR THE FRONT LINE OF OCEAN CONSERVATION

For our latest In Focus, we speak with Zoë Lower, a photographer with a fine art and fashion background who left that world behind to document the stunning beauty and harsh reality of our oceans.

OCEANS IN SPACE
OCEANS IN SPACE

With a new NASA mission lifting off next week to explore a watery moon orbiting Jupiter, we take a look at five (probable) oceans in deep space.

Meet the designer using mycelium in fashion and interior design to help us understand that death is a part of life
Meet the designer using mycelium in fashion and interior design to help us understand that death is a part of life

Maurizio Montalti is the cofounder of SQIM, a company on a mission to harness the power of mushrooms, collaborating with nature to design a fungal future.

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER DAISY WALKER ON RETURNING TO NATURE WITH HER NEW BOOK
FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER DAISY WALKER ON RETURNING TO NATURE WITH HER NEW BOOK

For the latest feature in our In Focus series we discuss her new book Guardians & Carers Of The Natural World, a tribute to the majestic beauty of our world.

THE ORGANIZATION USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO UNLOCK COMMUNICATION WITH THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
THE ORGANIZATION USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO UNLOCK COMMUNICATION WITH THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

We speak with Jane Lawton, Director of Impact at Earth Species Project, about their work decoding the language of nature using machine learning.

IN FOCUS: Victor Bezerra
IN FOCUS: Victor Bezerra

Rio-based Ocean Uprise ambassador reflects on surviving childhood cancer and finding strength and belonging below the waves.

COMBATING MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION IN MEXICO
COMBATING MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION IN MEXICO

Guided by the Parley AIR Strategy, our collaboration with NOAA is tackling marine debris in Mexico on a vast scale.

PUBLIC RECORDS ON WHY UNDERSTANDING YOUR IMPACT IS COUNTERCULTURAL
PUBLIC RECORDS ON WHY UNDERSTANDING YOUR IMPACT IS COUNTERCULTURAL

We talk to the cofounders of a cultural space in New York that puts ecology and the environment at the core of its mission.

SKY HIGH FARM: WHERE FASHION MEETS FOOD IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
SKY HIGH FARM: WHERE FASHION MEETS FOOD IN UPSTATE NEW YORK

Sky High Farm is a non-profit, a regenerative farm, a fashion label and recently, a Parley collaborator.

Meet the designer making luxury fashion from seafood waste AND mushrooms
Meet the designer making luxury fashion from seafood waste AND mushrooms

We catch up with Uyen Tran, who reflects on her upbringing on the coast of Vietnam and time working in New York, foundations that inspired her to launch TômTex with the aim to design the future.

Chris Hatherill
Previous

Ocean Emergency: Brazil
Next

Highlights from the first Plastic Health Summit