Mark Gonzales: "[Don't] Lose Touch with Being Human"
The Supreme team member explores his studio in this episode of ‘HYPEBEAST Diaries.’
Continuing our HYPEBEAST Diaries series, we meet up with artist Mark Gonzales in his Lower East Side studio. The Supreme team member still skates but has mellowed from his raucous early years. “I think at 50, I think I reached the type of maturity where my art is fine art,” he chuckles. “Where before it was just kid stuff.”
“Maybe inside the skateboard world I’m someway on the outside,” Gonzales reflects. “I’m a different way.” As he manuals through Chinatown and shows us the knick-knacks inside his studio space, he meditates on the contrast between his physical approach to skateboarding and emotional take on artwork. “I’m not afraid to … break a bone or … lose my teeth,” Gonzales affirms. “But… I like soft colors, I like pink, I like a lot of things that aren’t really ‘tough.’”
Inside the space, the Gonz maneuvers around half-finished canvases, Funko Pop figurines, old skate magazines and retro Makaha boards to get to his window-side workspace. “Mostly you can see it’s pretty messy, that’s the way I work.” he admits “Sometimes it’s hard for ideas to formulate with a clean environment.” As he paints, Gonzales considers how his work attitude has shifted since youth. “It’s kinda weird to not have a reason but just to be following an instinct. In my opinion, thats what makes good art.”
Watch Gonzales in action above and visit his ongoing “Street Art” exhibition at the Chandran Gallery to see the fruits of his labor.
Most recently, Gonzales took part in the adidas-hosted “BEYOND THE STREETS” street art anthology exhibition.
