Join us tomorrow evening to celebrate Nick Jensen’s takeover of the Plaster Store. The British artist and ex-pro skateboarder will unveil ‘No Solo’, showcasing artists who shaped his creative journey at Isle Skateboards, where he was the former creative director, along with some other great artists who’ve left their mark, including Jack Brindley (Pavilion Pavilion), Ls Gomma, House of Goblin, James Jessiman, Jan Tomson, Francesca Gavin, Seana Gavin, Frances Costelloe and Phil Goss.

Has your experience skateboarding influenced your painting?

Not so much aesthetically but definitely in terms of determination. I think you learn so many things about pushing yourself as a skater, and the repetition of perfecting a trick. When I was designing skateboards I would make installations and photograph them and bring in other contemporary artists I wanted to collaborate with. I guess I leaned into my love of seeing art shows and I wanted to bring that pristine white wall gallery onto a skateboard format. With my painting, the subject matter isn’t necessarily reflective of skateboard culture. 

Do you plan your paintings or does all the work happen on the canvas? 

I pre-plan it with studies on paper and drawing but often it goes a different direction. 

How do you find curating vs painting?

I am obsessed with painting. I love curating too, but it’s not the same joy I get from making paintings.

Tell us about the artists you’ve selected for your Plaster Store takeover

I was considering people that slide between design and art. I also have considered some artists I worked and collaborated with for Isle, the skateboard company. I want this show to be about friends and inclusivity, how conversations lead to ideas for work and how we can have flexible interpretations of categorisation.

Was there a particular moment when you knew you had to follow the path of painting more seriously?

Yeah, when I was about 21 at Central Saint Martins. The teachers were not painters and were kinda annoyed with people who painted. I think they said it was dead. I realised quite soon that trying to make a good painting was going to be a lifetime pursuit. I was listening to Auerbach on BBC Radio Four and he said he thought painting would be a bourgeois life with girls and drinking but he soon realised it wasn’t. Instead he learned very quickly it would be a very solitary career with a never ending learning curve. 

Do you feel more vulnerable sharing your artwork than you did sharing your skating?

Yeah, I feel a bit more vulnerable.

Do you have any specific/ strange studio rituals?

Nope, I just embrace mess and never clear up.

If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Cézanne. I would pretend to collaborate then just take the painting after he finished it.

‘NO SOLO’: a Plaster Store takeover by Nick  Jensen and friends

For Nick’s Store takeover, he asked some of the artists to document their contributions in the run up to the show. Here’s a sneak preview…

Francesca Gavin 

House of Goblin

Jack Brindley

Seana Gavin

James Jessiman