Review
WL Rating
My wife bought me this monster of a book for Christmas. Weighing in at over 10 lbs., 400 pages, and $250 this book creates its own expectations (and may be large enough to bend light). Artist Robb Havassy’s concept is pretty simple: combine an unparalleled collection of surf art and story into a single, albeit massive, tome. The result is truly unique, offering a mad mix of artistic expression. You will know some of the tales in the book if you’ve read other surfing story collections, e.g. Gerry Lopez’s piece was from his biography. But many of the tales are fresh and I found most of them very interesting. The art is all over the map and there is sure to be something for everyone. As you’d expect, there is the usual collection of what I’d inelegantly classify as drug-induced Dark-Side-of-the-Moon psychedelic surf art. Then there is a good smattering of Lassen-like mysto wave and landscape paintings. Fortunately for me, there was also some art that was more graphic design inspired, which I found the most appealing. Living up in the Bay Area and regularly surfing Ocean Beach, my favorite painting was a shot of a hooded surfer walking down the stairs at exit 20 in front of the windmill (small image is here). I’m guessing that just about anyone who surfs will find some art in this book that speaks to them. It’s expensive, but if you like art and surf stories (and have $250 sitting around), then I think it’s worth a place on your coffee table. You can buy this direct from Robb here. (January 2010)
Surf Story - Robb Havassy
