The Gonz

Mark “The Gonz” Gonzales was named “The Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time” by Transworld Skateboarding magazine, back in 2011. By that point, the South Gate, Los Angeles native had been at the forefront of skateboarding for over 15 years, and had been credited as a major architect of street skateboarding. He’d skated for (and/or was sponsored by) a veritable who’s-who list of the top names and companies in skateboarding, including Alva, Vision, Deluxe Distribution, EA Sports, Independent, Adidas, Krooked, Spitfire, Supreme, and more. In addition to dominating the skateboarding scene and putting places like the Embarcadero in SF on the skateboarding map, The Gonz is also a talented creative – acting in movies, directing music videos, making ‘zines, writing poetry, and more. This impressive new hardcover from Rizzoli New York features a visual mix of skate and lifestyle photography paired with Mark’s art and creative writing, all captured by long-time collaborator and photographer Sem Rubio. The book also centers around interviews about Gonz, and his work, with modern-day cultural luminaries like Spike Jonze, Hiroshi Fujiwara, KAWS, Ed Templeton, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Blondey McCoy, and Gus Van Sant. As such, you get some interesting and uniquely insightful perspective on a creative powerhouse, from a slew of equally well-respected creative powerhouses. And needless to say, Sem Rubio’s incredible photos do some heavy lifting here too. Hardcover, 9-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches, 208 pages. Totally rad.