Mark Gonzales "Round N Round" Exhibition Recap

Respected skater/artist/pioneer Mark Gonzales recently opened his latest gallery show, entitled Round N Round, at the Franklin Parrasch Gallery in New York City. The exhibition showcased Gonzales’ works from the past 20 years in a wide variety of mediums. Round N Round runs through November 28th, 2009 with further information available below:

Franklin Parrasch Gallery is pleased to present Round N’ Round – an exhibition which includes the premier of a new film and sculpture, as well as drawings, poems and correspondences by Mark Gonzales. Gonzales, who has been skateboarding professionally since he was a teenager is a prime mover in bringing the inherently improvisational, free-ranging attitude manifested in skateboarding’s engagement with the built and graphic environment to a wider audience. Gonzales’s work has been exhibited internationally, and his skating has been documented by Spike Jonze among other filmmakers. Gonzales’ approach to both art and life embodies a philosophy of perpetual motion. Nothing stagnates; everything connects and continues. His pursuits in drawing, painting, sculpture, poetry, and filmmaking are integrally aligned with his entire way of being. To see Gonzales skate is nothing like watching other professional athletes as they perform. His processes and methods of decision- making are predicated less upon sheer athleticism than upon a personal vision of skating as a medium.

Gonzales charts his movements and interactions within existing space in the manner of an installation artist. Filmmaker Werner Herzog’s remarks in a 2008 New Yorker magazine interview with high wire artist Philippe Petit could aptly apply to Gonzales when speaking of “an ecstasy of truth” in Petit’s performance: “he’s discovering walking in the sky, in the clouds means a form of ecstasy – a quintessential metaphor of an ecstatic moment. There’s a truth in that we can somehow function beyond our limitations.” Round N’ Round, which includes recent sculpture and video, as well as a selection from two decades of drawings, poems, and correspondence Gonzales sent to Jocko Weyland, author and curator of the Elk Gallery, defines and further contextualizes the artist’s philosophical pursuit of skating. These are brimming over with evidence of influences, cultural touchstones, and historical figures both obscure and well known that Gonzales’ incorporates into his work, creating a singular artistic universe that is profoundly allusive and interconnected.

Franklin Parrasch Gallery
20 West 57th Street
(Between 5th and 6th Ave.)
New York, NY 10019
212.246.5360

Source: purple.DIARY, Slam X Hype