Surfing as Art: Russell Crotty, Thomas Campbell, Jay Nelson

In a 2012 article for art press, critic Richard Leydier argues that the contemporary art world's obsession with scale, trendiness, and market velocity obscures art's true essence. He presents three California-based artists—Russell Crotty, Thomas Campbell, and Jay Nelson—whose surf-inspired practices offer a counterpoint. Crotty (b. 1956) creates fiberglass globes depicting California coasts, 'surf doodles' forming large abstract compositions, and painted books parodying surf magazines. Campbell (b. 1969) makes films like 'The Seedling,' 'Sprout,' and 'The Present' celebrating soul surfing, and builds mixed-media panels and sewn paper suns. Nelson (b. 1980) builds faceted wooden sculptures and vehicles like 'Golden Gate,' a surf-artist mobile studio, and reconfigures gallery spaces into wooden cathedrals. All three are surfers from Northern California (Santa Cruz to San Francisco), embodying the Hawaiian He'e Nalu philosophy of 'letting go' against nature's force. Leydier hopes future art will incorporate hippie culture to slow down and reconnect with the elemental.