'Asco: Without Permission' heralds the next generation of L.A. Chicano artists

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Set us as preferred The multidisciplinary artist rafa esparza was maybe 19 and in the break room of the now-defunct Orchard Supply Hardware in Pasadena when he first found out about the revolutionary art group Asco.It was the early 2000s, and he was working full-time while going to school part-time at East Los Angeles College.

He’d bring his homework to his job, and an older colleague, Ignacio, took interest in the books he was reading — mostly about Chicana/o studies and art.Ignacio grew up in East L.A., and showed esparza a big manila envelope stuffed with incredible sketches and drawings by Glugio “Gronk” Nicandro.Gronk, a friend of Ignacio, was one of the founding members of Asco, which roared to life as an unapologetically Chicano organization in the early 1970s and was made up of East L.A.

natives including Patssi Valdez, Harry Gamboa Jr.and Willie Herrón.Esparza is now among two generations of L.A.

Chicano and Mexican artists who have passed the torch that Asco used to blaze its groundbreaking trail.The story of the art group and its descendants, also including Maria Maea and San Cha, is featured in the new documentary, “Asco: Without Permission.” Executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the film premiered last year at SXSW and arrives on TV for the first time at 7 p.m.

Friday as part of PBS SoCal’s “Voces” series (plus PBS.org and the PBS app).When Asco first coalesced, Gamboa Jr.went to Los Angeles County Museum of Art and noticed a striking absence of Chicano pieces.

In the film, he recounts how, after his concerns were dismissed by a higher-up at LACMA, Asco decided to take matters into its own hands.The group came back later that evening and tagged the building with their names (“Spray Paint LACMA,” 1972), effectively reclaiming the entire museum as a work of Chicano art.Asco’s work remained in relative obscurity — living in local mythology through sto...