Ed Templeton: Wires Crossed Limited Edition book and print set

The limited-edition box set of Ed Templeton’s Wires Crossed features a unique hand painted print, Mike Maldonado, Davenport, Iowa, 1998, printed by the artist in his home darkroom and enclosed in a specially designed slipcase for the accompanying publication Wires Crossed. Part memoir, part document of the DIY, punk-infused subculture of skateboarding as it came of age, Ed Templeton’s Wires Crossed pulses with the raw, combustive energy of Templeton’s image-making from the last twenty-plus years. Illustrated by photographs, collages, texts, maps, and other ephemera from Templeton’s journals, Wires Crossed offers an insider’s look at a subculture in the making and reflects the unique aesthetic stamp that sprang from the skate world he helped create.

Occupying the rare position of having been a professional skateboarder, a two-time World Skateboarding champion, as well as a photographer and artist working within the skateboard community as it gained increasing cultural currency in the 1990s and beyond, Templeton’s work first gained recognition as part of the Beautiful Losers collective loosely gathered around Aaron Rose’s Alleged Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. This work, much of it previously unpublished and unseen, explores Templeton’s own journey as an image maker, as well as the lives of professional skateboarders as they spent long hours crisscrossing the world on tour, reveling in their newfound status as rock star–like figures and the eternal search for new terrain to skate. Interviews between Templeton and fellow pro-skaters and friends add compelling detail about the pressures and pleasures of life on the road, and what it’s like to obsessively pursue an art form—whether on their decks or behind the camera.

Each print, printed by the artist in his home darkroom, has unique handwriting and painted detail on the front, and is signed, stamped and numbered on the back. A perfect collectible for photography, art and skate enthusiasts alike.

Ed Templeton: Wires Crossed was made possible, in part, with generous support from RVCA / Artist Network Program.

The proceeds of the sale of this work benefit the artist and support Aperture’s not-for-profit publishing and public programs.

Each limited-edition print is hand-packed with great care and ships from New York within 3–5 days.