[1] A pioneer in the development of modern street skating, he is considered one of the first street-style skateboarders alongside Natas Kaupas.

[12][13][14] Soon after turning pro, Gonzalez won the 1985 NSA Sure-Grip Beach Style contest held adjacent to the pier in Oceanside, California.

[19] Starring Gonzales alongside Rudy Johnson, Jason Lee, Guy Mariano and Jordan Richter, Video Days paved the way for modern street skateboarding.

[12] Later that year, Gonzales - along with fellow progressive street skater Natas Kaupas - was the first person to skate handrails.

[32] Gonzales was also the first person to ollie the Wallenberg Set, a four-block, nineteen feet-long, four feet-tall gap in San Francisco, California, US.

[33][34][35] In reference to the early era of street skateboarding, professional skateboarder Mike Vallely stated in a 2007 interview: "At the time, the best street skaters in the world were Mark Gonzales, Jesse Martinez, Tommy Guerrero, who all three were Mexican kids, and Natas Kaupas, who was a Lithuanian dude that lived at the beach in Santa Monica.

"[6] In an interview for the Adidas website, Gonzales explained in reply to a question about his influence with the Blind company, "I wanted to work with my big brother doing construction—at the time I felt old, but had a young chick.

In 2008, Drag City released a book called The Collected Fanzines that consists of reproductions of old zines that he created together with director Harmony Korine.

Gonzales also directed and appears in the Coconut Records music video "Any Fun", alongside actress Chloë Sevigny and skateboarder Alex Olson.

[45][46] Gonzales has designed sculptures and paintings for Supreme's retail locations in New York (Manhattan), San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo (Shibuya), Nagoya, and Osaka.