Stream with KPBS+ / Premieres Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026 at 11 p.m. on KPBS 2 + Encores Monday, Oct. 5 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV and Friday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2
VOCES “ASCO: Without Permission” is the story of the groundbreaking Chicano art group that merged activism with radical art-making, challenging the established order of Hollywood, museums, and media, and are now considered among the 20th century's most significant art collectives.
Director Travis Gutiérrez Senger mirrors their boundary-breaking spirit through a unique approach, weaving nonfiction and fiction together with a new generation of artists. The result is more than a profile — it's a reimagining of what's possible in art and cinema, celebrating iconoclasts who were decades ahead of their time.
Harry Gamboa Jr., Glugio “Gronk” Nicandro, Willie Herrón, and Patssi Valdez met in high school and began making art as teenagers in 1970. They formed ASCO, from the Spanish word for disgust, and their work interrogated the Vietnam War, police brutality, Hollywood, and the art world through incendiary performances, photography, video, and muralism.
Frustrated by the stereotyping and the lack of access for themselves and their peers, ASCO began creating work across Los Angeles. They reimagined entire films with Brown protagonists in a series of film stills entitled "No Movies.”
By the 1980s, ASCO expanded to over 20 people, creating video works and theatrical productions with younger artists before the group disbanded in 1987. While each of the founders achieved success in the art world, ASCO remained in relative obscurity until the early 21st century, when a new group of curators began showcasing their work internationally and introducing ASCO to a new generation. They are now recognized as one of the major art groups of the 20th century.
The film examines ASCO’s influence on today’s artists, creating modern-day “No Movies,” directed by Gutiérrez Senger and made in ASCO’s collaborative spirit with the next generation of Latinx artists. These “No Movies” reimagine what is possible in cinema and art, just as ASCO did, leading to an intergenerational pop-up exhibition featuring classic ASCO works alongside contemporary Latinx artists.
“ASCO: Without Permission” also includes interviews along with ASCO’s archive, and celebrates a group of creators who were ahead of their time.
Filmmaker Quote: Says Director Gutiérrez Senger, “My hope is the film is a manifesto, the ASCO manifesto, for the next generation of the Chicano and Latinx community, as well as any marginalized group that wants to take from ASCO’s playbook. I hope the film inspires people to be daring and take risks, to be open to working and trusting one another. I’m honored to tell their story and help open the next chapter of Latinx history where our stories and work can be as bold and electrifying as ASCO’s.”
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Credits: A co-production of North of Now, ANM Films, La Corriente Del Golfo Production and ITVS in association with Exile Content, Tiny Giant and Wild Child Studios. A presentation of VOCES.
