Up Front
FABIAN ALOMAR
In Transition
Pool Picasso
An artist on cement transitions, he wields a paint brush, not a skate. Francis
Forlenza (above left) has seen more empty pools than most skaters. His first can-
vas was the contours of his parent's pool. He then expanded into full-time murals,
creating Medusa, Rebis and Labyrinth. Kevin Thatcher cornered Forlenza after a
few touch-up strokes on My Fifteen Minutes/Tumbling Waves at the Phoenix Hotel
in SF. On the other hand, Royce Nelson (top) drew some lines of his own.
Do you feel an energy in an empty pool?
Oh definitely, there's an innate energy that's
waiting to be tapped. There's a very structural,
organic rhythm to pools. When I do a pool envi-
ronment, I live in it. You're on your hands and
knees for eight weeks. I love doing interactive
work. With a pool, you can rollerskate or skate-
board in it, and swimming is important too. It's not
meant to be stagnant like a painting that hangs on
a wall. It's meant to be dove into, and the contours
are the best thing. You get down to the bottom and
you get wild echoes, you invent little games.
Any experiences that you can relate to us?
Well, birds are my arch enemies, and they
definitely take target practice. When the local TV
news came in, the interviewer was in his Armani
suit, trying to do the takes, and I'm sitting on the
bottom finishing the touch-up. There's that one
area in every pool where gravity will put you right
on your ass, and he's walking up. This is Jerry
Grant from KOFY-TV" and all of sudden, Boom!
His butt and his suit went tumbling down. He
was cursing, looking at me. You get a lot of rock-
ers at the Hotel Phoenix, so some people thought
it was demonic. Three sixes. Some thought it was
69. To me, they were tumbling waves.
Did you grow up with a pool in the backyard?
I grew up in New York City, but we moved out
to New Jersey and got the typical above-ground
pool first. Then we graduated to the in-ground.
One day I ran across a color sheet of pool col-
ors, but had never thought about painting one
before. My mom was pretty gung ho about it.
and I started painting naked men and women,
kind of superhero style on the family pool. She
didn't care about these voluptuous women, but
the other mothers were mortified that their four-
teen-year old was swimming in the pool and my
mother would go, "It's paint on the pool, gimme a
break." That's where it started.
Any future pool projects?
Well, I just did an art auction for KTEH in San
Jose, CA, where they auctioned off me painting
a pool on TV to the highest bidder.
Guest Column
Jim Thiebaud
I'm sitting shotgun in the van right now. This
is its maiden voyage after having the engine that
we burnt out somewhere south of Fresno
replaced with a strong new V-8. We are about
two hundred miles south of SF. Tommy is at the
wheel. He just got his drivers license about a
month ago. I helped him with some remedial
lessons the first few days-Look before merg-
ing." "Always aim high in steering," and now he
thinks he's an expert. I stay out of his way and
just sit back, glad I'm not at the wheel.
Anyhow, all I can think about is how good skat-
ing is. Close to ten hours of skating in a little over
a day and a half, and it still isn't enough. As stu-
pid as it sounds, skateboarding has become
the driving force behind almost every aspect of
my life. Yes, it is just a piece of wood with wheels
on it, but hell, who says significant things have
to be complicated?
It seems like I'm always thinking about skat-
ing. New tricks. What went down at the day's
session. Escaping, wherever I am, thinking
about just rolling around downtown. There's
nothing that commands so much power over all
that I do. (Except maybe Lynn but that's anoth
er story). If I'm not skating, no matter what it is
that I'm doing, my skateboard is doing time wait-
ing for me. Affecting me. Yes, I realize it sounds
fucking stupid. Get over it. It's been this way for
the better part of ten years. I have no intention
of changing now.
new
video
scraps"
tough slick
Z
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