Thrasher Magazine

In 2009, Juxtapoz Magazine celebrated its 15th Anniversary with a special exhibition and auction to benefit Power House Productions, and Detroit-based non-profit organization that was establishing a sustainable artist-in-residence program community-based arts programs in a previously foreclosed neighborhood. When our benefit raised over $150,000 for PHP, they were able to purchase and refurbish homes on the same block as their home, the Power House, and Juxtapoz invited Swoon, Retna, Ben Wolf, Richard Colman, Monica Canilao, and Saelee Oh to paint and reimagine the residences.

Three years later, the neighborhood is beginning to take shape, and this past summer, the Ride It Sculpture Skate Park was built on four vacant commercial lots along East Davison Freeway, another creative endeavor that fuses art and community. In support of the Ride It park, another auction was held, this time focusing on skate decks designed by artists. Just as he had in the 2009 auction, acclaimed NYC-based artist Matthew Barney donated a piece of art to benefit the Ride It park. But this wasn’t any piece of art; it was a specially designed skate deck, fit with a chuck of graphite on the bottom, that would be part of Barney’s ongoing Drawing Restraint series. And, of course, Barney wanted this thing skated!

This past Fall, with help from the Power House and Matthew Barney, Juxtapoz was able to bring skateboard legend and artist, Lance Mountain, to Detroit to be the first (and perhaps only) person to skate the Barney deck at the Ride It Sculpture Park. The following are photos from the project, a marriage of the conceptual mind of a fine artist and the grace and speed of a skateboard icon. An amazing project on its own, this is another example of minds coming together to bring awareness to the importance of community and art. We are proud that three years later, the Power House neighborhood is still an epicenter of unique projects based on empowering neighborhoods to work together and develop an ongoing creative environment that everyone can be proud of. —Evan Pricco

To celebrate Juxtapoz' special project in Detroit with Matthew Barney, Lance Mountain, Power House, and the Ride It Sculpture Park, Juxtapoz is excited to announce a limited edition Barney x Mountain (shot by our wonderful photographer, Joe Brook) cover circulating on newsstands across the world. There are only 1,000, so good luck on the search. We also invited filmmakers Eric Carlsen and Chris Rosik to shoot a documentary on Mountain's time in Detroit, which is what you get to see here, today.