Paisley Park skateboard deck, "Paisley Grabs Back"

Object Details

Description (Brief): Paisley Park skateboard deck is laminated wood with a layer of blue wood visible around the edge. The surface is light red with the Paisley Park logo printed at one end and engraved in the other end. The bottom has a black ground with "Paisley grabs back" written in cursive in white with a pink border. There are men and women in profile wearing the 'pussy' hats made famous at the Women's March held on January 22, 2017 in response to Donald Trump's inauguration. The donor, Nick Halkias is an employee at Paisley and explains the reason behind the graphic, "The issue of women’s rights and the political climate of that time was a daily conversation in our homes and work." They went to Winston Tseng for graphic ideas and they picked this one because, "Its the type of image that nobody would expect from a bunch of skaters. Especially a new company working to define their image. We were thrilled to show support and solidarity for women’s rights and political resistance." Tseng has been designing art work for skateboards since the 1990s and his work has always been innovative and cutting edge. He conveyed to me that this graphic, in particular, broke ground, "For a world that still primarily caters to male youths, this graphic is counterculture to the counterculture, which made the idea behind it even more important for us to convey to this audience."
Location: Currently not on view

2017

Physical Description: wood (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 31 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in x 2 in; 80.01 cm x 20.955 cm x 5.08 cm

See more items in: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure; Sports & Leisure

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-bde0-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa