C.R. Stecyk III (born in the early 1950s) is a Southern California native and one of its pop culture historians.
Craig (also known as John Smythe or Carlos Izan) gained notoriety for his artwork on surfboards in the early 1970s, particularly when he became involved with the founding of the infamous Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions surf shop in Venice, California. He created the infamous "Pig and Crossbones" graffiti that, along with the Dogtown cross, became an icon of skateboarding attitude. [1]
In the 1970s, Stecyk was also a contributing photographer and writer for Surfer magazine. As surfing gave birth to skateboarding, Stecyk became one of its earliest practitioners and proponents. When Surfer magazine re-launched Skateboarder magazine (they had published four issues in the mid-1960s), Stecyk became one its most important photojournalists. The stories about the notorious Z-Boys from Dogtown were, for the most part, his creation. Some of the top skaters debated the accuracy of his stories; however, Stecyk's articles launched the Z-Boys to fame. Russ Howell said, "There were many good skaters who contributed positively to the sport and somehow Skateboarder chose to promote a gang of kids who only sought to destroy the sport on an organized level."[2] Regardless of the controversy, his stories inspired a generation, and he is credited as the Godfather of the sport/art of skateboarding as it is known today. [1]
Stecyk is also internationally known as a respected and collected fine artist working in sculpture, painting, surfboards and hot-rod cars. He is one of the founders of Juxtapoz art magazine, and has contributed to many different books. He is currently a contributing editor to Arkitip. His life was portrayed in the 2001 award-winning documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, as well as the Hollywood-style feature film Lords of Dogtown in 2005. [1][3]
Stecyk has long been recognized as one of the country's most important influences on young, emerging artists. For example, his work was recently included in "Roots and Influences" section of the "Beautiful Losers" exhibition. Along with Basquiat, Larry Clark, Raymond Pettibon and others, Stecyk was lauded in the exhibition as one of the "cultural producers who have had a direct influence on the development of the generation of artist and designers" that includes street-artists-turned-art-world hotshots Shepard Fairey and Barry McGee.
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