FOWER PLOWER – Los Angeles

May 19 - June 20, 2017

OPENING Friday May 19, 2017, 6-10 PM

HVW8 Gallery is pleased to announce “Fower Plower,” an exhibition of new paintings by New York artist Mark Gonzales. Investigating ideas of color theory, mood, the humor and geometry of Paul Klee, the graphic/non-graphic qualities of Donald Baechler, semiotics, and theology—and, of course, classic floral themes—the paintings are luminous and alive.

The artworks crackle with movement fittingly—Gonzales is a dancer, in the tradition of Merce Cunningham or Trisha Brown, but on wheels. His teenage years in 1980s Los Angeles were spent traversing the streets, which, by proxy, became his moving canvas. He earned a reputation as a pioneer of modern skateboarding—a master, albeit one not bound by flawlessness or precision, but the anarchy afforded only after achieving true mastery. It was as if he haphazardly broke the laws of nature, causing time and space to bend to him, leaving a wake of influential agitation behind him.

His art, like his poetry, is not separate from his skating. Gonzales’s canvases are filled with painterly technique honed over years of drawing and painting, but they also exhibit a shambolic quality; the works are precise and imprecise all at once. This particular body is inspired by the disappointment he felt when his business partner “sold out” in the early 1990s, the faces are bursting with bitterness. They are put-on fake smiles, cheerful in the face of misery and embarrassment. Years later, however, the harsh cynicism has softened, and the power of the smiles seems to have cracked the regret. Indeed, Gonzales seems to be saying, flowers, grown in even the harshest of conditions, can have an immutable healing power.

Mark Gonzales
Born 1968 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives and Works in New York, NY

Solo Exhibitions
2016 Flammable Attitude, The Last Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Storage Space, The Boardr HQ, Tampa
2015 Mozart of The Ipad, Screening, Orchard Gallery Boston, MA
2014 Baby Don’t Mind, The Last Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Mark Gonzales: new work, a show in four parts, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
One Week, One Show, 71a Gallery, London, England
2011 Mark Gonzales, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
Mark Gonzales: Round ‘n’ Round, 212 Gallery, Aspen, CO
2010 Invitation, Last Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (catalogue)
Mark Gonzales, Cartel Zero Onze, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2009 Round N’ Round, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue)
South West, Half Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Priest, Kemistry Gallery, London, England
2003 Shopping, Andrew Roth, New York, NY
2001 Untitled 2001, Alleged Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The Priest, The Annex, Los Angeles, CA
2000 The Mark Gonzales Art Show, Purple Institute, Paris, France. Traveling to Alleged Gallery, New York, NY (2000)
Weapons and Armor, Museum Het Domein Sittard, Sittard, The Netherlands
1998 Backworlds Forwards, Museum Abteiberg, Stadtisches Museum, Monchengladbach, Germany

Two-Person Exhibitions
2010 Mark Gonzales + Ari Marcopoulos, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Alva/Gonz, Exhibit A Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Mark Gonzales with Christian Hosoi, Journal Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Maurizio Cattelan – Mark Gonzales, Analix Forever, Geneva, Switzerland

Group Exhibitions
2017     Drawing Island, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014     Freezer Burn, Curated by Rita Ackermann, Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY
2011    alexander, gonzales, kauffman, shore, wine, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
Art in the Streets, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Multiple Pleasures: Functional Objects in Contemporary Art, Curated by Nathalie Karg/Cumulus Studios, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, NY
Printed Matter Warehouse Sale, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY
California Maximalism, Nyehaus, New York, NY
ZINE*FAIR, Kinsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
            Salad Days, Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009   The Detournements of Wynn Miller, Exhibit A Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Learn to Read Art: A History of Printed Matter, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany. Traveling to MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2009)
Topsy Turvy, Janet Borden Gallery, New York, NY
I Am Snowboarding, OnSix Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 There is Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids, Nog Gallery, London, England
Sonic Youth etc. – Sensational Fix, International Space for Emerging Arts, Saint Nazaire, France. Traveling to Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst, Bolzano, Italy (2008); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany; Kunst im Tunnel, Dusseldorf, Germany; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö,     Sweden (2009); Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles, Spain (2010)
2006 ”Draw” Tour, Fuse Gallery, New York, NY. Traveling to Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX (2007); Stolenspace Gallery, London, England (2008); Shooting Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2009); Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico (2010)
The Kate Show, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Saudades, Crac Alsace, Altkirch, France. Traveling to Museum het Domein Sittard, Sittard, The Netherlands (2006)
Skate Culture, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
2005 rupture des evidences, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France
10 Years of New York’s Notorious Alleged Gallery, Printed Matter, New York, NY
2004 Beautiful Losers, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH. Traveling to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2004); Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD; University of South Florida / CAM, Tampa, FL (2005); La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy; Le Tri Postal, Lille, France (2006); Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland (2007); La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain (2009)
The Human Face is an Empty Force…, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2003 Models & Mavericks, Museum het Domein Sittard, Sittard, The Netherlands
2002 Bay Area Now 3, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
From the Trenches, Five San Francisco Painters, Curated by Chris Lindig, New Image Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Kim’s Bedroom, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Traveling to MU, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2000)
1999 Kill All Lies, Curated by Michele Maccarone, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY
1997 The Independents, Alleged Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Minimal Tricks, Alleged Gallery, New York, NY

Publications
2014 Aarons, Phil and Reeves, Emma, ed. Non Stop Poetry: The Zines of Mark Gonzales. Printed Matter. 1 Oct. 2014.
2011 Instead of Eros Avenged. Nieves. 30 Sept. 2011.
2010 Invitation. The Last Gallery. 10 Dec. 2010.
“Portfolio: Mark Gonzales and Harmony Korine.” The Journal, No. 29. 2010.
Focus Photo Finishers. Elk Books. 2010.
2008 Emportant News. Decathlon Books. 2008.
The Collected Fanzines (with Harmony Korine). Drag City. 2008.
2006 Gonzales, Mark, ed. The Journal, No. 17. 2006.
2005 Rose, Aaron. Young, Sleek, and Full of Hell: Ten Years of New York’s Alleged Gallery. Drago Arts and Communications. 2005.
Rose, Aaron and Strike, Christian, ed. Beautiful Losers. Iconoclast/DAP. 2005.
2002 High Tech Poetry. Contingency Publishing. 2002.
2000 Weapons & Armor, Museum Het Domein. 2000.
1998 Social Problems, Little More. 1998.
Broken Poems: Stories, Poetry and Drawings. Tropen Verlang. 1998.

Bibliography
2016 Hendrikx, Eric. “Mark Gonzales on Art, the Olympics, Why Street Skating Is Like the Blues,” Rolling Stone, 21 June.
2010 Gonzales, Mark and Marcopoulos, Ari. “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” Hobo Magazine, Issue No. 12.
O’Brien, Glenn. “Mark Gonzales,” Hobo Magazine, Issue No. 12.
Valdez, Sarah. “Mark Gonzales,” Art in America. 10 Feb.
2009 Reeves, Emma. “Gonzo For Mark Gonzales,” Interview Magazine. 8 July.
Nelson, Karin. “PULSE; Brush Strokes Slanted Southwest” The New York Times. 24 July.
2007 Riggio, Jay. “Mark Gonzales City Dreaming,” Huck Magazine. 2007.
2005 Cotter, Holland. “Young, Sleek and Full of Hell,” The New York Times. 13 May.
2003 Weyland, Jocko. “Free Wheeler” The New York Times. 9 March.
2000 Cotter, Holland. “The Mark Gonzales Show” The New York Times. February.
1999 Smith, Roberta. “Kill All Lies.” The New York Times. 9 July.

Filmography

2009 “Circle Board in New York City,” directed by William Strobeck
“Circle Board in Paris” (featured), directed by Ludovic Azemar
“Any Fun,” directed by Mark Gonzales. (music video for Coconut Records)
2008 “Beautiful Losers” (featured), directed by Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard
2007 “Gnar Gnar,” VHS, ed. 1000. Filmed and edited by Mark Gonzales and Sam Salganik
2006 “McBeth,” released in conjunction with The Journal, No. 17
1999 “Backworlds For Words,” written by Mark Gonzales, directed by Cheryl Dunn (released in conjunction with Broken Poems)
1997 Gummo (featured), directed by Harmony Korine
“How They Got There” (featured), directed by Spike Jonze
1991 “Video Days” (featured), directed by Spike Jonze