Mark Gonzales Loves New York for the Traffic

Has that happened?
No, but it’s New York City, so I’m saying, you know.

You stay aware.
It’s always there. I love New York because of the traffic. Every corner is a different situation.

Bicycling in New York has become more integrated into the infrastructure of the city. That hasn’t really happened in the same way for skateboarding. Have you been following what’s going on with Tompkins?
I think skateboarders are pretty open to each other. If everybody’s getting along, then everybody’s like, Let’s shut this down, you know, let’s stop them. The whole point of skating is to escape being told what you are, and as soon as everyone realizes, Oh wait, all these guys, they actually all get along, then they say, Well, let’s stop it. That’s what it seems like to me. I just think, like, you can imagine if you don’t skateboard, you see everyone having a good time, you’d be like, Let’s stop it! How do we stop this! That’s just human nature, you know.

What does it mean for you to have your work included in this show?
I feel honored. I feel honored to be a part of it.

Your work is in the West Coast section of the show? Do you consider yourself that? Is that West Coast-East Coast divide useful anymore?
I mean, I like the Jets. I like the Lakers. I’m not a part of any one thing, so it’s hard to say I represent this or I represent that. There’s way more action in New York. The West Coast, it was pretty hard to skate in the city. You’d get in trouble. When I was a kid, you couldn’t skate in downtown LA and go around the corner and it be a different place. I think the youth on the East Coast have a lot more freedom just to be wherever they want to be.

Speaking of freedom: you work in a dozen different media: painting, drawing, sculpture, word art, spray paint, found objects. Is there one that keeps your attention?
Moving around in the street, actually. That’s my favorite medium. Pencil, pen, marker, stickers, tape, you name it. Whatever works. Toothpaste. It varies. Just recently I did these maps. That was from driving in my car, which has the navigation, so I started doing drawings of that, and that was fun. I’m ready to be inspired by something new. I’ve been plugging away at doing art since maybe when I was 19 or 20.