As soon as you step in Stolen Space, you cannot help but look to the right as you have spotted something big from the corner of your eye. It is there. The vultur is looking at you.

No I have not gone mad but am only looking at Haroshi‘s masterpiece depicting what looks like a vultur with one noticeable detail – the wings are made of old skateboards decks. The gallery is hosting until the 3/11, Haroshi’s first solo show in this space and promised us something radically different, something fresh and unseen before. So far, they have not lied, I had not seen a vultur made of old skateboard decks before.

Originally from Tokyo, Haroshi has been collected and used discarded remains of broken down skateboard decks to produce wooden sculpture. The concept of reshaping what once was used as skateboard into pieces of art certainly sound like something that should have been done before.

Or maybe not. Maybe it was worth waiting all that time to see it done as Haroshi’s sculpture are beautiful, polished and colourful. It is hard to believe that the artist did not have any formal training in sculpture but is a 100% self taught artist. This is for the visual aspect.

Now, his works also transpire emotions, and especially “Agony into beauty” which depicts the face of a man who seems to be in pain.

Haroshi’s first solo exhibition at StolenSpace is indeed looking at the effects of emotional pain and how it can be a great motivating force in the creation of art. In short, the artist looked back at painful experiences and recycled them into his sculptures using recycling material, ie old skateboards decks.

A truly refreshing body of works that combines two worlds you would think will never meet – sculpture and skateboard

Haroshi first solo exhibition “Pain” runs until the 3/11/2013