Rom av.JC - Manus Ululatus Vexillum

Artist
Romain Hurdequint, also known as Rom av.JC (French, born in 1989)

Title
Reapus Vexillum (Textile composition on skateboard)

Date
2024

Technique and support
Textile assemblage (raw wool, natural fibers, woven threads) on a skateboard made of recycled wood, with paint on wood.

Dimensions (frame not included)
80 × 20 × 3 cm

Artwork without a frame.

Attribution
Romain Hurdequint – definite attribution, original work created by the artist.

Signature and inscriptions
Artwork signed on the back (handwritten signature and date, in black felt-tip pen).

Description
This work offers an interpretation of the 'Screaming Hand', the iconic graphic of the American brand Santa Cruz Skateboards, which has become one of the most recognizable symbols of global skate culture.

The original visual, depicting a screaming hand torn from its bodily context, has since the 1980s embodied a radical, expressive, and transgressive aesthetic. Rom av.JC does not proceed here with a graphic reproduction, but with a material translation. The recycled skateboard is hollowed out to accommodate two distinct textile compositions. The upper part presents a dense arrangement of fibers in ivory, lilac, brown, and black tones, forming an almost pulsatile organic mass. The lower part develops a diagonal structure that suggests movement, internal tension.

In the center, the illustration evokes the figure of the screaming hand. The motif, historically screen-printed in industrial production, becomes here a trace in the wood. The expressive violence of the original icon is absorbed by the softness of the wool. The work interrogates how symbols of skate counterculture circulate, transform, and inscribe themselves in an expanded temporality, between collective memory and a unique sculptural object.

Provenance
Artist's studio, France.
The artist's private collection up to the present sale.

Documentation
Certificate of authenticity signed by the artist provided with the artwork.
Invoice issued by the artist.

State
Very good overall condition.
The skateboard bears subtle natural irregularities stemming from its recycled origin (minimal signs of wear and variations in the wood), deliberately integrated into the artistic concept.
The textile elements are securely attached. No restoration.

Stylistic remarks (optional)
This work is part of Rom av.JC's contemporary practice, which explores transforming used skateboards into hybrid artistic objects, blending sculpture, references to craft, and formal reinterpretation. The use of natural fibers reinforces the material and tactile dimension of the medium.