Mark Gonzales
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Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1969), also known as "Gonz," is a professional skateboarder and artist. He is known in the skateboarding world as the pioneer of modern street skateboarding, currently skateboarding's most popular form.
Gonz came on the skateboarding scene at age 15 with a modern approach to street skating and made the cover of Thrasher magazine's November 1984 issue, riding a board from Alva, by whom he was sponsored at the time. He was soon to be picked up for sponsorship by a new company with big ideas, called Vision Skateboards. [1]
In 1986, Gonzales performed a groundbreaking ollie at the Embarcadero in San Francisco.[2] So historic was this incident for skateboarding, it became forever known as the "Gonz Gap" and helped make the Embarcadero a popular location for skateboarders. [1] In 1986, Gonzales and Natas Kaupas were the first skaters to skate handrails, thus cementing his contribution to street skating's early to intermediate stages. In 1987, he became one of the first people to skate switch stance. [1]
Gonz went on to further influence skateboarding as it modernized with the 1991 video Video Days by Blind Skateboards (a company he created around 1989). The name Blind was an intentional slight to his old sponsor, Vision. And in 1993, Gonzales was the first skater to kickflip his namesake, the Gonz Gap at Embarcadero, and the first skater to do the Wallenberg set 4 block. After leaving Blind Skateboards, Mark went on to start two new companies: ATM Click and 60/40 Skateboards (which is now out of business). Mark skated for Real Skateboards before launching Krooked Skateboards, a brand under Deluxe Distribution.
Gonz has also established a parallel career as an artist, having shown at the Alleged Gallery in New York and various galleries worldwide. He recently had an exhibit featuring collaborative works with Christian Hosoi at the Journal gallery in New York City. He also designs the "Gonzo Cuntry" clothing line available in Japan and t-shirts for UARM. His fans include Donald Trump and Sean Combs, both of whom have collections of his artwork. [1]
Gonz has appeared in a few movies, including Harmony Korine's cult film Gummo, where he wrestles a chair. He was also the male lead in a 1997 Spike Jonze short film, How They Get There.
In 2006 he was awarded the Legend Award by Transworld Skateboarding[3].
In 2007 he published a skateboarding video called "Gnar Gnar" that was shot with an old VHS camcorder and was limited to only 1000 VHS copies.[4].
Most recently, Mark Gonzales was also featured in the music video "West Coast" by Jason Schwartzman's band, Coconut Records (band). This was a skate video sequence originally filmed in 1998 at a German museum, but edited and synced for this music video with his permission. He also recently directed and is featured in Coconut Records' new video "Any Fun" alongside actress Chloë Sevigny as well as skateboarder Alex Olson.
He is also a poet and author and has published several books including Social Problems, High Tech Poetry, Broken Dreams, and Broken Poems. In 2008, Drag City released a book called The Collected Fanzines that consists of reproductions of old zines that he collaborated with Harmony Korine in making. [5]
Gonz also appears in the new skate video game EA Skate and filmed a commercial to promote the game's release.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Craft, Kevin 16 Things You Didn’t Know About Mark Gonzales, Skateboarder Magazine
- ^ Thrasher, September 1986.
- ^ 8th Annual TransWorld SKATEboarding Awards
- ^ Kingpin, Gnar Gnar from the Gonz, 30. January 2007
- ^ Powell's Books
[edit] External links
- Mark Gonzales at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Mark Gonzales in the frequency: The Snowboarder's Journal
- Mark Gonzales at Rolf Contemporary
- Krooked Skateboarding (Gonzales' skateboard company)
- Mark Gonzales fiction and illustration in Frequency The Snowboard Journal (Gonzales' Interview)
