turnedproductions

I’ve been filming a documentary… slowly but surely.  While on the road with my good friend Michael Vaughan, we stopped in Oakland at an art show called Pay It Forward.  The show was put together by Eric Murphy, who also curated it along with Woody Johnson.  Pay It Forward’s theme was about continuing legacy.  In this show, the legacy put forth was a torch being handed from bay area artist Mel Ramos, to bay area artist Gabriel Navar.  Victoria Dalkey of the Sacramento Bee says, “Ramos is best known for his paintings of superheroes and voluptuous female nudes emerging from cornstalks or Chiquita bananas, popping up from candy wrappers or lounging in martini glasses”.  Quite the “mental” image that paints in itself, even if you’ve never seen a piece of Mel’s art.  Ramos rolled with the Pop Art Movement of the 1960′s… his works have hung next to the best of them.  Yet as many others, as well as unlike many others, Ramos is still rocking in the modern era.  Gabriel Navar, a former student of Ramos, has transcended the Pop Art Movement of the 60′s, slammed it together with all he’s seen and experienced in his life thus far, and created, what I consider, a genre of his own.  Navar rocks prolifically, putting out on average a painting a week.  Michael and I had the honor of being students of Navar’s during our stint in the college circuit… so we felt it fitting that we attend this show.  We altered the route we were taking, and showed up with some of Turned Productions gear, and got to filming.  John rolled up for the show, as well.  This was epic.  Since John and I have been working together for so long, I knew I would now have time to visit with my friends at the show, safely knowing John would be behind a camera, doing something odd, getting the shot.

We decided to put this film together out of respect for Navar and his crew.  For Eric Murphy, Woody Johnson, Joyce Gordon, for Mel Ramos, for Jose Rodeiro, the poet Alan Britt, and many others that rock the roll for Navar, and who Navar rocks for, as well.  All of these people work together, collectively, to help spread the word, image and meaning of art, which truly translates to life.  How could John and I not cut a film to work with them, following their supportive efforts.  And so, here it is, our humble film, a little short, to share an event that happened for all those who were not able to attend, and for those who would like a little peak back into the past, into a righteous moment in time when people came together for one common love… art.

vaya con suerte,

-andrew