Madgalena Wosinska: Fulfill the Dream | Fahey/Klein Gallery
Changes, 2017 © Magdalena Wosinska; courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Written by Max Wiener
Skate culture is ripe with gorgeous and deep imagery. It’s a life many of us dream of escaping to, a sun-drenched paradise where the emotions and connections are as rich as the land you roll on. Pushing your energetic body on four wheels lets your mind completely clear, singularizing your focus on your craft and blocking out all negative and ineffective thoughts. At its core, it's an adventurous and nomadic life where self-exploration is central to all other endeavors, maybe even the act of skating itself.
Central Phoenix, 1999 © Magdalena Wosinska, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
At the Fahey Klein Gallery, Magdalena Wosinka’s Fulfill the Dream perfectly encapsulates all aspects of this uniquely American subculture with her masterful photojournalistic imagery. The exhibition, accompanying the release of her new monograph, features some of her most personal images that examine the human connection analytically deeply Skating images themselves have their iconic place in Thrasher. However, Wosinka’s images bring out the humanity in these athletes and look at them as people, not skaters. While society and “the man” may have deemed this world a counterculture, Fulfill the Dream reminds us that human beings exist behind the skate decks and chunky shoes, just like the rest of us. The exhibition opened on April 18th and is scheduled to close on June 1st.
Mist, 2013 © Magdalena Wosinska, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Woskinka’s images are wonderfully nostalgic, even if you have never dropped in on a halfpipe. They all represent the wonderful candor of American youth, filled with bountiful possibility and reckless abandon. The naked children running in her photograph Mist could be the best example of this, depicting three girls stripping off their clothing and running naked toward the woods. They are carefree and wonderful, with no pressing thoughts of the world coming to the forefront of their minds. The world's woes are entirely irrelevant, and glancing at the image, we feel lost in the carefree nature of the subjects. It’s an inspiring look into something lost in our lives, perhaps something we’ve all grown out of. Corporate jargon and capitalistic gain have replaced fun and lust. Looking at Mist makes us wonder what happened to the fun child in all of us.
Urban Saddles, 2020 © Magdalena Wosinska, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Images of attractive individuals on the backs of motorcycles and skating devils show humanity's endless possibilities. Skating is a risky sport, requiring tremendous dedication and determination to become anywhere near a master. Let us take the images of Fulfill the Dream as a spark for us to pursue something noteworthy in our own lives, no matter what it is. Let’s all do something risky, or even risqué if you will. Go to that bar and talk to people you never imagined interacting with. Each image in Fulfill the Dream proves that life’s too short to stop doing the things we love and being our true selves. We all still have that inner child in all of us. If we acted like this, the world would be better.
Teenage Summer, 2023 © Magdalena Wosinska, courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
