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About the exhibition
Christoph Wildgrube aka Willow — pro skateboarder, carpenter, and artist presents a new body of work at the FKKB Gallery.
In his 2026 work cycle, Willow shifts his approach. Instead of using previously ridden boards, he works with new skateboards. This change is conceptual rather than technical. It’s less about preserving the past and more about shaping something that doesn’t yet exist.
The starting point remains skate spots he has ridden over the years. These places aren’t directly reproduced; they appear more as background memories and are reshaped in the process. Certain elements persist. The new boards aren’t neutral — they carry an inherent tension, as they are made to be used. That potential is redirected. Through cutting, twisting, and reassembling, forms emerge that recall ledges, curbs, or transitions. These are not replicas of existing spots, but interpretations of what defines skating in those environments.
The scale stays close to classic skateboard posters — images once pinned to bedroom walls, capturing specific tricks or moments. Here, the format functions differently. It doesn’t present a finished scene, but something that could become a space.
This connects to the Japanese Kintsugi method, where broken objects are visibly repaired rather than concealed, gaining value in the process. Willow translates this idea into his own context. The fractures of the boards are rejoined but not hidden. They remain visible as lines of stress, time, and experience. Memory isn’t smoothed over, but deliberately retained. The joins stay exposed — you can see where material was cut, where tension builds, where elements press against each other. The result feels like an open construction.
The works sit between sculpture and design. They aren’t rideable, but they clearly relate to use. Their origins in a movement-based practice remain evident.
At its core is a simple idea: skate spots don’t have to emerge purely from improvisation or existing conditions. They can be conceived with skating in mind from the outset.
For Willow, this points to an imagined place — not a specific location, but a direction. A public space that accommodates skating rather than resisting it. The works don’t offer solutions, but they suggest how architecture might respond.