Friday, Dec.
18 at the Hurley International headquarters in Costa Mesa, Robb Havassy and
company held a party, complete with art show and concert, to commemorate the
release of Havassy's book Surf Story, the culmination of years of thinking and work by the man whose creativity and genuine love of surf culture gave birth to the ambitious
project.
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The official
release of Surf Story was held during
the giant waves and heady atmosphere at Oahu's North Shore on Dec. 9. But amid the unprecedented surf conditions and the excitement of the Triple Crown, fingers were crossed as to how successful the event would be.
The event last Friday at Hurley was certainly better attended and larger than the official
North Shore release. It brought together, just as Havassy's project has, the
many eclectic elements of surf art and culture. From desolate wastes populated
by skeletal zombie surfers, to serene nature scapes and clean-lined
paradisiacal tropics, the wide variety of paintings captured a huge range of
interpretations and experiences of the world of surfing.
Hundreds of folks from throughout the surf industry attended, and the night included live
performances by Iodine69, M Phase, Tornado Rider and more. Wealthy-ish surfing
socialites paid top dollar for classic photo prints and paintings. Robb
Havassy, meanwhile, maintained an astounding energy level, smiling, shaking
hands, and furiously signing books without losing an iota of genuineness.
The first run of Surf Story is a batch of only 1,000
collector copies, each numbered and signed. Proceeds from this limited batch of
books will benefit the Surfrider Foundation.
Oh yeah, and speaking of art, on the way over there, I saw a huge painting of a
multi-colored elephant that seemed to be illegally bolted to the abandoned
hut-style building that used to be the home of Tower Records. The elephant
looked conspicuously similar to the art of Jason Maloney, one of our recent
interviewees. . . . Just thought it was worth mentioning. Happy holidays!
