Tracing the evolution of skateboard design starting from ‘50s-era sidewalk surfing, this leftfield show features more than 100 one-of-a-kind skateboards along with objects, tapes, magazines, and memorabilia reflecting the sport’s technical progress and changing societal acceptance. The centerpiece is a 3.5-foot mini skate ramp that curator Jonathan Olivares tapped skatepark design and construction leaders Betongpark to complete in the gallery. “While skateboarding history is the incalculable sum of the hours spent by individuals skating, skateboard history is finite, limited to the vast number of skateboards that have been made,” Olivares says. “This exhibition is centered around a single question: How did the skateboard get to be the way it is?” Stay tuned for an upcoming Phaidon book about skateboard design that also answers that question—and the sport’s inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Photography by Felix Speller.