Recently HUF released a capsule collection with filmmaker and photographer Ari Marcopoulos, whose dossier reads like a class syllabus on icons of contemporary art and hip-hop 101. The HUF collaboration is born out friendship between the prolific lens man and skateboarder and HUF founder, Keith Hufnagel, who go back more than twenty years. We caught up with Marcopoulos to get the back-story.
I was born in Amsterdam and one day I came to New York for a few months and just ended up staying. It seemed like the place to be for me.
When you moved to New York it was literally exploding with creativity, what was it like to come from Europe into the city?
It was an amazing time and early hip-hop was the most inspiring, and it just made New York an exciting place to be. It was also tough at the same time, making ends meet.
Your early work documents New York at a pivotal moment. Did you know at the time that the artists, hip-hop artists and skaters you were shooting were going to define the decade?
I don't know if I knew. I just followed what I was interested in. My work allowed me inside a place where I felt a certain excitement and spirit.
What made you choose to partner up with HUF?
My friendship with Keith Hufnagel, who’s been a long time friend and we have a mutual admiration.
When and how did you and Keith meet?
I am not exactly sure, but I think he might have asked me to do a picture of him for some magazine. I had an old car at the time and I remember going to midtown to some bump with him and he was ollieing over the hood of the car and I was shooting from inside car. From then we just hit skate spots and became friends.
The HUF capsule consists of four socks that are each so different. What's the inspiration behind the "Stripe" sock?
It's a photo of my beach towel. The towel always reminded me of a minimalist color field painting.
What's the back-story of the photo from the "Spray" sock?
That is my son hitting up a tunnel with Remio, the graffiti writer. My boys were psyched with the amount of cans of spray paint he had. Plus they were excited to be working along with Remio.
You and Keith used to shoot skate photos at Brooklyn Banks back in the day, so that image makes so much sense as part of the sock collection. What was it like in the heyday?
The Banks was always an adventure and a good time. It was an amazing place where often all heads hung out. So it had a good vibe most of the time.
What's the story behind the image on the "Gun" sock?
That's a Glock made out of Lego by my son Ethan.
What projects are you working on currently?
A new book “Fumes” just came out with KARMA books. Working on a new monograph to be published by Rizzoli and just keeping busy, making new work.
To keep up with Ari Marcopoulos go to http://www.arimarcopoulos.net and to check out the latest releases from HUF head over to http://www.hufworldwide.com.