Brian Lotti (born 1972, Okinawa, Japan) is an American professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United Stat ...

, film-maker, and visual artist. Lotti rose to fame in the skateboarding world in the late 1980s while riding for H-Street Skateboards. He is known for his fluid skateboarding style and inventing the "Big Spin" skateboard trick.

Professional skateboarding

Lotti's popularity peaked in the early 1990s while he was sponsored by skateboard company Planet Earth and appeared in the 1991 Planet Earth video ''Now N' Later''. After moving on to ride for

Blind Skateboards Blind (stylized as bLind) is an American skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco under the World Industries umbrella. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwin ...

, Lotti left the world of professional skateboarding and moved to

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Following his return to the skateboarding industry, Lotti completed filming a part in the 2007 Santa Cruz Skateboards "Legends" video. In 2009 Lotti founded his own company, Telegraph Skateboards, and all of the skateboard decks featured original design work by Lotti and his associates. However, as of March 2014, the brand is no longer operational—its web-site is nonexistent and its products are no longer sold.

Bigspin

As one of the originators of today's technical street-skating, Lotti brought several tricks to the forefront of skateboarding such as the frontside bluntside. He also invented the backside tailslide flip-out and the Bigspin. The Bigspin was done by skateboarders before Lotti but the catchy name caught on. The name was derived from a Californian lottery at the time with the name Bigspin. The person who named the trick the Bigspin saw Lotti do one and chose the name because his last name sounds like the word lottery.

Visual art

Following his initial departure from professional skateboarding, Lotti became an attendant for Roshi Robert Aiken at the Palolo Valley

sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

. There he studied

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and went on to further his education at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Lotti then moved back to the mainland and attended California State University at San Francisco, where he graduated with a degree in art. Following university, Lotti moved to

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

to concentrate on his art career. After a few years of living on the

San Juan Ridge The San Juan Ridge () is a geographic feature extending approximately east-northeast between the South and Middle Yuba Rivers in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. The elevation is approximately 790 m (2,600 ...

, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Lotti has designed board graphics for skateboard companies and brands, such as Cartel, Cliche, Listen, Stereo, Death Skateboards, Almost, and the now-defunct Adio Skateboards. In early 2016, Lotti participated in "The Art of a Political Revolution," an event in Los Angeles which showcased art that supported the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

. Lotti designed new cover artwork for the 10-year anniversary reissue of

Midlake Midlake is an American folk rock band from Denton, Texas, formed in 1999. The band consists of Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Scott Lee, Eric Nichelson, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan. In 2012, vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Tim S ...

's album ''

The Trials of Van Occupanther ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

''. In September 2018, Lotti collaborated with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

Skateboarding to reissue the brand's Campus 80s sneakers with his label and apparel.

Film-making

Lotti's most recent appearance in the skateboarding world has been as the director of a film called "1st and Hope" about a day devoted to skateboarding in the streets of downtown Los Angeles. His follow-up film ''Free Pegasus''—about skating through the streets of Barcelona, Spain—was released in 2008 and featured professional skateboarders Clint Peterson and Cooper Wilt.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotti, Brian American skateboarders Living people 1972 births Artist skateboarders