Skateboard art show celebrates Athens connection between trio of Los Angeles natives

When Kirin and Khamisi Thurman's parents moved from Los Angeles to Athens in the early 2000s, the southern college town was already familiar territory for the brothers, who had grown up spending their summers in the Classic City with their grandparents.

Now Athens residents, Kirin and Khamisi are bringing the West Coast culture of their youth to Ciné with a free skateboard art show scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.

The show is a collaboration between the Thurmans' company Brothers Kinetic Systems and Braselton-based artist Chris Hobe, whose designs are featured on the brothers' skateboard decks and apparel. Though Hobe also hails from California, he and the Thurmans came to know one another professionally rather than having grown up skating the Los Angeles streets together.

"I started selling my art at AthFest about 10 years ago, and people's response to it has just gotten crazier and crazier," Hobe told the Banner-Herald. Hobe had been doing skateboard and surfboard designs for years through his company Artrevolts when Brothers Kinetic contacted him about working together. At the time, the Thurmans weren't aware of their mutual connection to the downtown Athens scene.

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Though the Thurman brothers are 10 years apart in age, Khamisi was old enough to remain in California and looked after younger brother Kirin when their parents relocated to Athens. It was during that time period that Kirin and Khamisi became steeped in BMX bicycle culture, which lead to their first experiences putting on the "Subway Series" events centered around the scene in Los Angeles, where their collaborative events with local skateboard artists continue today.

Khamisi told the Banner-Herald that Saturday's show at Ciné will be the Brothers Kinetics' first show in the Athens area, and will feature the debut of a new skate deck designed by Hobe. The Thurmans will be in attendance along with Hobe, and their "W.A.R. (Wolves and Rabbits)" decks will be available for sale along with several others. There will also be a "Reese & Pope Ramp Rumble" event earlier in the day at 275 Reese St. that the Brothers Kinetic is putting on with Athens Skate Park Project, a local nonprofit organization.

"Whenever I visited my parents in Athens, I always brought my board with me, and I was moving wherever I had my wheels," said Khamisi. "It was the 1980s, and I would see bands on MTV that were also performing downtown, and I felt so cool having that connection here. When Kirin, Chris and I started talking about doing an event together in Georgia, it was a no-brainer that we would want it to take place in Athens."

Ciné is located at 234 W. Hancock Ave. in downtown Athens. For more information about Brother Kinetic Systems, visit brotherskinetics.com. To see more of Chris Hobe's art, visit artrevolts.art.