Creative Works
Art and other creative works from the community.
Danny Landers
Danny Landers is a skateboarder, visual artist, and published short fiction writer. He has belonged to the ridgeboiz community since the park’s inception, and cannot imagine a better place to call home.
Cole Leyva
"My latest work explores the tension between identity and consumption through a recurring character, the Blue M&M, otherwise known as “Bro” or “Big M” or “Headtapp”, rendered in oil and acrylic paint. The character becomes less a corporate mascot than a stand-in for the contemporary individual. The settings, situations, and mannerisms I present surrounding the character are all distinctly human. The works exist somewhere between familiarity and anonymity, which allows them to carry both humor and psychological weight. The paintings draw from the visual language of urban America, while borrowing the material sensitivity of traditional painting. At their core, these works reflect on the emotional consequences of consumer culture. The mascot, designed to sell comfort and familiarity, becomes a portrait of someone hidden behind an identity they have learned to perform." -Cole
Jose Manuel Collantes
Ridgeboiz is an ongoing photographic series documenting a brotherhood of skateboarders in northern New Jersey. Centered around the skate park in Ridgewood, the series explores how a shared space creates community and identity among people from different backgrounds.
Working within my circle of friends allows me to examine our transition from adolescence into adulthood through an intimate perspective. The photographs explore masculinity, relationships, resilience, and belonging.
The chain-link fence surrounding the park becomes a recurring visual element, representing the tension between restriction and freedom. Though the space is physically enclosed, it provides an escape where individuality can be expressed. Ridgeboiz is both a document of place and a portrait of the relationships formed within it.
Jose Manuel Collantes is a 29-year-old photographer based in
Ridgewood, New Jersey.