Santa cruz/speed wheels art show

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Posted 2023-01-30 by Jane ⇒ follow

Fri 10 Feb 2023

An Archival art show celebrating the art of Jim Phillips and Phillips studio from the golden years of speed wheels 1985-1991.

The re-birth of skateboarding in the mid 1980s was the golden era of skateboard graphics. The level of artwork coming out of Jim Phillips’ mind and studio for Santa Cruz Skateboards became some of the most memorable skateboard deck graphics ever. That same level of mind-blowing art was also happening on skateboard wheels. Under the guidance of Art Director Jim Phillips and Brand Manager Richard Metiver, the “Speed Wheels Santa Cruz” brand family was born. In 1984, the Bullet brand started as a wheel and deck company. Soon after, the 1970’s OJ wheel brand was re-formed as OJII. In 1985,Christian Hosoi joined the OJ camp and launched his own wheel brand, Hosoi Rockets.

The Speed Wheels wheel family was completed with the introduction of Slime Balls in 1986, followed by the first appearance of a revolutionary innovation – full four-color pad print graphics on wheels! Finally, the Screaming Hand logo was created and became the primary brand logo for Speed Wheels Santa Cruz. The wheel art, ad look, and brand attitudes were perfect for the time. Razors, skulls, vomit, veins, and maggots all blended perfectly to make a visual feast, not to mention the wheel shapes and urethane formulas were all on point. This perfect mix attracted the best of the best of skateboarding pros at the time to ride for Speed Wheels Santa Cruz and it quickly became THE team. They proved it with such videos as 1989’s “Speed Freaks” and later in the “Risk It” video. This creativity burst from 1984-1991created some of the most unforgettable skateboarding, artwork, logos, ads, photos, and videos.

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