The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community
November 27, 2019
Text: Annie Block
Painter Katharina Grosse Creates Unique Surfboards to Benefit Ocean Cleanup
She bodysurfs, and now she has designed shortboards. Colorless With a Hint of Blue is a 20-piece series of one-of-a-kind surfboards by celebrated German painter Katharina Grosse. But they represent even more than artistic beauty. Proceeds from their sales—they’re $50,000 each, available at Gagosian Shop in New York—go to Parley Global Cleanup Network, an organization with the aim of ending marine plastic pollution. Reducing foam, resin, and fiberglass use, the boards themselves were made by Firewire Surfboards of sustainably grown and sourced paulownia wood, which Grosse painted directly on with water-based acrylics.
Katharina Gross,Colorless With a Hint of Blue surfboard, 2019. Acrylic and spray paint on laminated Paulownia wood. Photography by Jens Ziehe/Courtesy of Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.Katharina Gross,Colorless With a Hint of Blue surfboard, 2019. Acrylic and spray paint on laminated Paulownia wood. Photography byJensZiehe/Courtesy ofKatharinaGrosse and VGBild-Kunst,Bonn.Katharina Gross,Colorless With a Hint of Blue surfboard, 2019. Acrylic and spray paint on laminated Paulownia wood. Photography byJensZiehe/Courtesy ofKatharinaGrosse and VGBild-Kunst,Bonn.Katharina Gross, Colorless With a Hint of Blue surfboard, 2019. Acrylic and spray paint on laminated Paulownia wood. Photography byJensZiehe/Courtesy ofKatharinaGrosse and VGBild-Kunst,Bonn.
