Ian Johnson: Artist lands on his feet

Ian Johnson's work is featured right now at San Francisco's White Walls Gallery, another show is coming up in Tokyo in May and a book on his art is due in August.

The 28-year-old who dropped out of art school credits his recent success to one thing: skateboarding.

"Skateboarding is entirely responsible for where I am right now with my art career," says Johnson, who is known for his detailed portraits of authors and jazz music icons from the '40s, '50s and '60s. "I've always been into art but never really considered it as a career until Western Edition launched."

Western Edition is the San Francisco skateboard company that Johnson started in 1999 with Kent Uyehara. Johnson is the company's art director. More here.

Skate Culture, Art Shine At Art Positions

If skateboarding, punk rock, graffiti and DJs sound like a good time, you might want to head over to Art Positions — an “outpost” of Art Basel Miami Beach featuring skate performances amid “a beachfront village of shipping containers transformed into mobile art spaces.”

During this year’s event — themed “Concrete Waves: Homage to Skate Culture” — 20 giant steel shipping containers, placed around a 70-foot wooden skateboarding ramp on the sand in Collins Park, house projects by up-and-coming artists from as far away as Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Norway and Poland.

Skateboarding legend, Tony Alva will headline a skateboarding demo at the event.

Visit the Miami Sun Post for the full scoop.