Gabriel Pons was born in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1974. His father, a structural engineer, emigrated from the Philippines to marry his mother, an American schoolteacher he met at a Valentine’s Day party in 1967 during her tour as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Gabriel’s childhood was spent listening to his father’s extensive record collection, playing with Legos, watching science fiction movies, and collecting comic books. In 1987, Gabriel’s older brother introduced him to skateboarding, which consumed his teenage years and exposed him to a whole new punk aesthetic in music and art.
While attending architecture school, Gabriel expanded upon the typical mediums of architectural drafting and modeling and initiated painting and collage as another means of “rendering” space. The architecture studio also provided him the environment to explore other media such as photography and video. In 1995, Gabriel participated in the Virginia Tech studies abroad program, traveling throughout Europe over the course of four months documenting art and architecture.
In 1999, Gabriel followed his future wife’s trajectory and moved to New York City. During their years living in Brooklyn, they worked in architecture firms while simultaneously pursuing their respective art forms. As a way of returning to the roots of his inspiration and merging both recreation and artistic endeavors, Gabriel has been designing skateboard graphics under the MONO (pronounced moe-no) label since 2002.
In the summer of 2005, Gabriel and his wife Scarlett relocated to Fredericksburg, Virginia to live closer to their family and start one of their own. Their son, Diego, was born on December 10th 2005. Gabriel and Scarlett share an artist studio at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in downtown Fredericksburg. Their studio, aptly named PONSHOP, exhibits Gabriel’s paintings on canvas, paper, and skateboards as well features Scarlett’s ceramics. The PONSHOP mission is to promote fun and creativity through the exhibition and education of art and design. |
In The Coliseum - acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 30”x40” |
Metropolis Maze - acrylic, spray paint, and collage on canvas, 24”x24” |
Lady or the Tiger - collage, acrylic on canvas, 30”x30” |
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