Patssi Valdez

Venturing from Venice Beach to Watts, Varda looks at the murals of LA as backdrop to and mirror of the city’s many cultures. She casts a curious eye on graffiti and photorealism, roller disco & gang violence, evangelical Christians, Hare Krishnas, artists, angels and ordinary Angelenos.

"ASCO: Without Permission" is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles based, Chicano art group of the 70's-80's, ASCO, who merged activism and art as they challenged representation in the art world, Hollywood and the news media. Unrecognized in their time, they are now being considered amongst the most important artists of the 20th century. Utilizing a wholly original approach to filmmaking where nonfiction and fiction are interconnected through collaborative film works made with the next generation of Latinx artists, "Without Permission" reimagines what is possible today in cinema and art while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time.

In Hot Pink, director Patssi Valdez provided costumes and make-up to two young men and one young woman who perform in an unscripted scenario of play, aggressive gender roles, and seduction that upends the expectations of the artist’s social group.