“Art and Skateboarding as a way of Conquering Boredom”
Mark began skateboarding when he was 13 years old, South Gate California. With an innovative approach to skateboarding, it didn’t take much to get noticed. At first, his sponsor was Alva skateboards and in November 1984 Mark took the cover of Thrasher doing a bean plant.
Thrasher Cover
Popping into the air stepping with his front foot off a launch ramp, grabbing his board with back foot still on, he was airborne. Mark would become a top street skating pioneer. When he skated for Alva, Mondo Beck did the artwork airbrushing the boards. These early times must have helped grow the artist inside of Mark. He said hanging around with Mondo and Alva was both fun and shocking.
After this milestone Mark joined the Vision skateboarding team and went pro winning a contest in Oceanside. His board became a classic design of the 80’s that inspires nostalgia for many of us. From Vision, he went to Blind skateboards with Steve Rocco.
Becoming a big influence appearing in Video Days. Once again Mark would soon be on his way leaving frustrations experienced with Vision and Blind behind. He then created ATM click adapting Vision designs form signature skateboards of those days to ATM decks. Hitting up the next obstacle ripping a line along the street and throwing down art.
On to Deluxe
From there the journey led him to Deluxe Distribution. Mark now skated for Real skateboards and appeared in Kicked Out of Everywhere, Nonfiction, and Real to Real. Under Deluxe Mark would go to launch Krooked Skateboards. Like many artists with the desire to create and live his passion, you could see he wasn’t slowing down.
He loves to go fast down hills, through traffic and swerving around people. This is where he’s at home. In an interview, he said, “some people like to be seen and some people don’t”. “Skateboarding is an art form not to compare, but appreciate”.
It's Up to You
“It’s up to the individual to find their own way”. It could be graceful, bold, aggressive, destructive, combinations of these qualities and more. Mark went on to say “ different people skate different styles and create their own presence, which is hard to categorize.
”Skateboarding is uncontrollable, it’s popular and then it dies out. People try to organize it, but it’s freedom. That’s why a lot of kids like it“. You can escape boredom and learn a lot from skateboarding by doing it every day.
You fall getting up, trying again and making improvements. It will teach you about life in a nontraditional way, unlike the structured learning of school. You create your world learning as you go along expressing your art. Mark can cruise down a street and see ten things to interact with when the average person may find the same surroundings rather boring or simply background.
Painting, Writing, and Skateboarding
An incredible athlete and artist, Mark relishes flying about the streets doing what he loves. For him, painting, writing, and skateboarding are all the same thing. Saying ”art and athleticism go hand in hand, a lot of the time I’ll draw something that is going to happen, a skateboard trick and then do it“.
You see how tightly visualization which is vital to both skills actually weaves the two together as one. Mark was named the ”most influential skateboarder of all time by Transworld, December 2011. He has helped skateboarding become what it is today.
After reading this I hope you’re stoked to grab your board, get outside create some art kill boredom and stagnation. Get out and innovate, out and create.
Best regards, Andrea Biggs.
Sources; Wikipedia for known facts, YouTube videos for interviews and quotes, Thrasher, Transworld and independent videos. My own experiences in skateboarding.
Get a Mark Gonzales Vision skateboard here, all colors ——-> http://amzn.to/2EtOk2h
