Whose Waters?

Erica Ellis

November 30, 2023

Jul 13 – Oct 20, 2024

Details

The history and experience of surfing is broad — it contains safety and danger, layered histories, global communities, and perhaps most of all, abundant joy. Those who surf remember their first wave, the carefree and long-lasting burn of pride and triumph, the feeling that nothing else really matters. And many who surf also know that in surfing, as in life, so much matters. In this exhibition, nine artists, some who surf and some who don’t, offer their experiences, reflections, and criticisms of all that surfing is and can be.

Grounding the exhibition is the powerful work of Gabriella Angotti-Jones, who reflects on her experience surfing in Southern California and her community of friends who take on the waves as she eagerly and meticulously shares their stories. Imbued with humor, Stephen Milner investigates queer imagery in surf culture by repurposing contemporary neoprene material and vintage wetsuit advertisement imagery. Local to San Luis Obispo, surfboard shaper Shea Somma made two custom boards that play with how specific surfboards signify expert or beginner experience in the water, engaging an exploration of class and privilege in surf culture. Selections of Catherine Opie’s photography series From Your Shore to My Shore, depict an unbreaking horizon — taken when the artist rode a shipping container from Long Beach, CA to Korea, bringing to the forefront the central question of this exhibition: whose waters do we swim, surf and play on, and how do we best share this global landscape.

Joni Sternbach, a true expert in tintype photography, depicts portraits of surfers with a timeless and individual quality. Three pen-on-paper drawings of familiar surf breaks by Sandow Birk bring to mind a surreal reflection on the unpredictability of the waves and our experience within them. Vernon Ah Kee includes stills from his 2009 video cantchant: Indigenous surfers toting surfboards with patterns and colors from the Australian Aboriginal flag, while excerpted texts that repurpose riot slogans make decolonial puns on traditional surf jargon. Tracey Moffatt’s film Heaven brings questions of voyeurism, privilege, consent and sexism into beach and surf culture. Excerpted from the pioneering book Afro Surf, Kunyalala Ndlovu’s words are displayed in large format on the gallery walls, drawing meaningful parallels between our daily lives and our experiences in the water.

Surfing has offered such a transformative way of life to so many of us, a way of being with the earth in a symbiotic exchange. In surfing, as in life, there is dance and play, failure, fear, loss, and community. The artists included here and their brave expressions invite all of us toward a more caring, hopeful, and responsible future of sun, surf, and sea.

Haga clic aquí para obtener más información en español.

Artist Panel

On July 13, 2024, SLOMA welcomed artists Gabriella Angotti-Jones, Stephen Milner, Kunyalala Ndlovu, Shea Somma, and Joni Sternbach, whose artwork included in Whose Waters?, which opened to the public the same day.

The panel was moderated by SLOMA’s Chief Curator and Director of Education, Emma Saperstein. The presentation was recorded and is available to watch here for free. Past artist talks can be watched on SLOMA’s Artist Talks and Panels page. Videography by Slava Narozhnyi.

Exhibition Highlights

Resources + Related Programming

Photograph by Joni Sternbach. Black and white photo of surfers sitting on their boards, from far away.

Want to learn more about surfing or connect with surfing communities? Check out our list of diverse surfing clubs, organizations, surf schools, and events!

Two men ride a wave on surfboards, their hands touching

Aug 11, 10 AM–1 PM: SLOMA Surfboard Swap.
Join us for an annual surfboard swap co-hosted by Somma Special Designs. Bring your boards to buy, sell, and trade on SLOMA’s lawn! Free and open to the public.

Painting of a lagoon with a colonial ship, a modern surfer in the foreground and the bust of a native woman emerging from the water in the background

Thursday, Sept 12, 7–8:30 PM: Haagua: An Indigenous Surf Film screening + Q&A with Native Like Water. A recording of the program is now available to view on SLOMA’s YouTube page: click here!

Photograph of three men on a beach wearing bright t-shirts, sunglasses, and carrying surfboards

Wednesday, Oct 9 from 5:30–7 PM: Indigenous Surfers Reflecting on Art and Sovereignty Panel discussion.
Building on the themes of Whose Waters?, four Indigenous surfers gather for an engaged discussion on the relationship between surfing as a popular SLO County sport and leisure activity and the politics of Indigenous recognition. Speakers Lowell Wyse (descendent of the Lac Courte Oreilles and Fond du Lac Bands of Lake Superior Ojibwe/Chippewa); Jaimie Isaac (Anishinaabe, Sagkeeng First Nation); Kelsey Shaffer (yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe); and Haylee Bautista (yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe) are four panelists from three different tribal nations. Free admission but an RSVP is required: click here for SLOMA’s Eventbrite page.