Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1968), also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz", is an American professional
skateboarder
Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States 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. S ...
and
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
.
He is known as the godfather of modern
street skateboarding
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas refer ...
and was named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time" by the
Transworld Skateboarding
''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') was an Skate magazine, international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In Februar ...
magazine in December 2011.
Early life
Gonzales was born and raised in
South Gate,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States,
and is of
Mexican descent.
Professional skateboarding
Gonzales entered the skateboarding scene at the age of thirteen in South Gate, California, U.S. At the age of fifteen, as
Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero (born September 9, 1966) is an Indigenous American musician, composer, and professional skateboarder.
Early life
Guerrero was born in San Francisco, California. He is of Ohlone-native, Chilean, and Filipino descent from his fa ...
and
Natas Kaupas
Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent. He is often referred to as one of the first true profe ...
were developing their own styles of progressive street skating around the same time, Gonzales adopted a more modern, innovative approach to skateboarding in a street context (subsequently dubbed "street skateboarding"). He was featured on the cover of ''
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
'' magazine's November 1984 issue riding a board from the
Alva company, his board
sponsor at the time, while performing a trick known as a "beanplant".
Vision to ATM Click
Shortly after his ''Thrasher'' magazine cover, Gonzales then joined the
Vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
skateboard team and entered his first contest as a professional in May 1985 at the 'Sacto Streetstyle Contest' held in Sacramento, California.
Soon after turning pro, Gonzalez won the 1985 'NSA Sure-Grip Beach Style' contest held adjacent to the pier in Oceanside, California.
Gonzales proceeded to further influence the progression of
street skateboarding
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas refer ...
with the 1991
Blind Skateboards
Blind (stylized as bLind) is a skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco's World Industries distribution company. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwindle Dis ...
video ''
Video Days
''Video Days'' is a skateboarding video by Blind (company), Blind Skateboards released in 1991. It is considered one of the most influential skate videos, as director Spike Jonze's format is frequently cited as its definitive filming template.
'' ...
'' (a company he formed with Steve Rocco in 1989).
Gonzales left Blind after experiencing frustrations that were similar to his time with Vision and then started another company called ATM Click and followed it with a venture with Ron Chatman called 60/40 who sponsored future Menace skaters
Fabian Alomar
Fabian Alomar is an American pro Skateboarding, skateboarder and actor born and raised in Echo Park, Los Angeles. He began skateboarding in the 1990s and became pro by 1996. He was arrested a few times and narrowly avoided a Three-strikes law, thi ...
and Joey Suriel.
In 1993, Gonzales created controversy after he appropriated a Vision design that was used for one of his signature model boards for an ATM Click design; Gonzales then proceeded to also use the graphic for Real and Krooked signature skateboard models following his move to
Deluxe Distribution
Deluxe Distribution is an Ermico Enterprises, Inc-owned subsidiary founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco.
Deluxe was formed to distribute the Beware Record label, and other small record labels popular with skateboarders, ...
.
Deluxe Distribution
Under the Deluxe Distribution company, Gonzales skated for Real Skateboards and appeared in three of the company's videos: ''Kicked Out of Everywhere'', ''Non Fiction'', and ''Real to Reel''.
In 2002, Gonzales then launched Krooked Skateboards in partnership with the Deluxe company and, as of February 2016, Krooked is an operational company that has released four full-length videos.
In 2007, Gonzales appeared in the skateboarding video game ''
EA Skate'' and filmed a commercial to promote the game's release.
Sponsorship
As of 2013, Gonzales was sponsored by
adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
,
Krooked,
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
,
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, and
Supreme. In 2016, Gonzales joined the Pro-Tec skate team.
Influence
In the summer of 1986 Gonzales performed an
ollie
Ollie is a given name and a nickname, often as a shortened form of Oliver, Olive, Olympia, Olga or Olivia. Variants include Olie, Oli, Oly and Olly.
People Given name
* Ollie Marie Adams (1925–1998), American gospel and R&B singer
* Olli ...
from one wall down to another platform at
The Embarcadero in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, U.S. and the obstacle had been known as the "Gonz Gap" since his completion of the trick; the trick also helped to popularize The Embarcadero as a location for skateboarding.
Later that year, Gonzales - along with fellow progressive street skater Natas Kaupas - was the first person to skate handrails. Gonzales was also the first person to ollie the
Wallenberg Set, a four-block, nineteen feet-long, four feet-tall gap in San Francisco, California, US.
In reference to the early era of street skateboarding, professional skateboarder
Mike Vallely
Mike Vallely ( ), also known as Mike V, is an American professional skateboarder and musician. Since November 2013, he has been the lead vocalist of hardcore punk band Black Flag. Vallely is the second-longest-serving member of the band, althou ...
stated in a 2007 interview: "At the time, the best street skaters in the world were Mark Gonzales, Jesse Martinez,
Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero (born September 9, 1966) is an Indigenous American musician, composer, and professional skateboarder.
Early life
Guerrero was born in San Francisco, California. He is of Ohlone-native, Chilean, and Filipino descent from his fa ...
, who all three were Mexican kids, and
Natas Kaupas
Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent. He is often referred to as one of the first true profe ...
, who was a Lithuanian dude that lived at the beach in Santa Monica."
In an interview for the Adidas website, Gonzales explained in reply to a question about his influence with the Blind company, "I wanted to work with my big brother doing construction—at the time I felt old, but had a young chick."
In 2006 Gonzales was awarded the ''Legend Award'' by
Transworld Skateboarding
''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') was an Skate magazine, international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In Februar ...
, and the magazine selected him as the most influential skateboarder of all time (followed by
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
and
Rodney Mullen
John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited fo ...
) in December 2011.
Art and writing
London-based art curator Emma Reeves has explained in an introduction that she wrote for ''Interview'' magazine: "He makes art all the time, and he has been making art in some form or another for almost as long as he has been skateboarding. But it's rare to see an actual show of the work". An interview that Reeves completed with Gonzales is also published in ''Interview'' and he reveals that he likes creating "
zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...
s" the most, as "it is the most free thing to do".
In 2008, Drag City released a book called ''The Collected Fanzines'' that consists of reproductions of old zines that he created together with director
Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26. is an Ame ...
.
Gonzales was featured in the music video for the song "West Coast" by
Jason Schwartzman
Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician.
Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' (2 ...
's band,
Coconut Records
Coconut Records is a German record label formed in 1981 by producers Tony Hendrik and Karin Hartmann. The label has released multiple genres of music, including dance, schlager, eurodance, electronica, Hi-NRG, Dance-pop and R&B.
Artists
...
; the music video featured a sequence that was originally filmed in 1998 at a German museum, but was edited for the purpose of the music video with Gonzales' permission. Gonzales also directed and appears in the Coconut Records music video "Any Fun", alongside actress
Chloë Sevigny and skateboarder Alex Olson.
Gonzales is also a poet and author, and his published body of work includes ''Social Problems'', ''High Tech Poetry'', ''Broken Dreams'', and ''Broken Poems''. Gonzales has revealed that he is constantly writing poetry.
In 2011, Gonzales designed and painted the London Flagship
Supreme (brand)
Supreme is an American clothing and skateboarding lifestyle brand established in New York City in April 1994.
The brand aims to appeal to youth culture in general as well as the skateboarding and hip hop scenes specifically. The company makes ...
Store. Gonzales would send letters to the New York store entitled “Supream” during the early years of the brand. This led to many collaborations with Gonzales and Supreme, with the latest being in the S/S21 collection. Gonzales has designed sculptures and paintings for Supreme's retail locations in New York (Manhattan), San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo (Shibuya), Nagoya, and Osaka.
Personal life
As of 2018, Gonzales resides in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York with his wife, Tia, and their 2 children.
Filmography
The following is a list of films in which Gonzales appears:
*''
How They Get There'' (1992)
*''
Gummo
''Gummo'' is a 1997 American experimental drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine, starring Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, and Chloë Sevigny. The film is set (but was not filmed) in Xenia, Ohio, a Midwestern American tow ...
'' (1997) – he appears in a scene in which he wrestles a chair
*''
Southlander
''Southlander'' (also known as ''Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician'') is a 2001 American independent film by Steve Hanft and Ross Harris. Originally titled '' Recycler'', after the Los Angeles magazine of the same name, the film wri ...
'' (2003) Gonzales plays Vince, a good friend of the main character
*''
Beautiful Losers
''Beautiful Losers'' is the second and final novel by Canadian writer and musician Leonard Cohen. It was published in 1966, before he began his career as a singer-songwriter.
Set in the Canadian province of Quebec, the story of 17th-century ...
'' (2008) – a film about contemporary art and street culture (released on August 2, 2008)
Videography
*''Sure -Grip Beach Style'' (1985)
*''NSA 86' Vol. 4'' (1986)
*''Mondo Vision'' (1987)
*
Thrasher (magazine)
''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews.
The magazine also ...
: ''Savannah Slamma'' (1987)
*''Psycho Skate'' (1987)
*''Ohio Skateout'' (1988)
*''All Pro Mini Ramp Jam Hawaiian Style'' (1989)
*Blind: ''Video Days'' (1991)
*
Thrasher (magazine)
''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews.
The magazine also ...
: ''The Truth Hurts'' (1993)
*
Supreme (brand)
Supreme is an American clothing and skateboarding lifestyle brand established in New York City in April 1994.
The brand aims to appeal to youth culture in general as well as the skateboarding and hip hop scenes specifically. The company makes ...
: ''A Love Supreme'' (1995)
*Deluxe: ''Jim's Ramp Jam'' (1996)
*Real: ''Non-Fiction'' (1997)
*Deluxe: ''World Wide Distribution'' (1999)
*Real: ''Kicked Out of Everywhere'' (1999)
*Real: ''Real To Reel'' (2001)
*''411VM'': ''Vancouver 2002'' (2002)
*''Streets: San Francisco'' (2003)
*''Closure'' (2003)
*
Thrasher (magazine)
''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews.
The magazine also ...
: ''Rocket Science'' (2004)
*''ON Video'': Winter 2004 (2004)
*Fourstar: ''Super Champion Funzone'' (2005)
*Fourstar: ''Catalog Shoot'' (2005)
*''Get Familiar'' (2006)
*''McBeth - Mark Gonzales - The Journal'' (2006)
*Krooked: ''Kronichles'' (2006)
*Krooked: ''Gnar Gnar'' – the production was shot with an old
VHS camcorder and was limited to 1000 VHS copies (2007)
*
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
: ''A Five Day Excursion To Paris'' (2008)
*Krooked: ''Naughty'' (2008)
*
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
: Diagonal (2009)
*Fourstar: ''Gang of Fourstar'' (2009)
*Krooked: ''Krook3D'' (2010)
*Poweredge: ''We Are Skateboarders'' (2012)
*Transworld: ''The Cinematographer Project'' (2012)
*
Supreme (brand)
Supreme is an American clothing and skateboarding lifestyle brand established in New York City in April 1994.
The brand aims to appeal to youth culture in general as well as the skateboarding and hip hop scenes specifically. The company makes ...
: ''Cherry'' (2014)
*
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
: ''"Away Days"'' (2016)
Gonzales also appeared in the 29th part of the web series "7 Day Weekend", produced by professional skateboarder
Dustin Dollin—in the episode the pair skateboard, drink beer and converse while in France.
References
External links
Deluxe Distribution*
Mark Gonzales - YouTube channel1985 Mark Gonzalez InterviewEDO Skate Zine; Springfield, VA / archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzales, Mark
American skateboarders
Living people
1968 births
People from South Gate, California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California
Sportspeople from New York City
Hispanic and Latino American sportspeople
Artist skateboarders
American artists of Mexican descent
American sportspeople of Mexican descent