Pablo Ramirezwas known as one of skateboarding’s most daring hill bombers. But the San Francisco skater also had a passion for visual arts, music and spirituality — pursuits that fueled his holistic way of living and personal credo, “Life is beautiful.”
“Carrying on Pablo’s legacy has been extremely profound,” said Loren Michelle, Ramirez’s mother and co-founder of thePablo Ramirez Foundation, established in the wake of her son’sfatal collisionwith a truck on Seventh and Natoma streets in April 2019.
旨在鼓励股权,创造力和是ity within skate culture with an eye on access, the foundation’s mission to give back includes skate park cleanups, tree planting, and commissioning mural paintings from Brooklyn to San Francisco. Now as the third anniversary of Ramirez’s death draws near, the foundation is expanding that mission by launching a monthlong celebration of its namesake, “The Power of Pablo,” on Saturday, March 12, centered on an art exhibition of the same name and auction of more than 100 works donated by established and emerging artists at SOMArts Cultural Center. The group art show is supplemented with free and donation-based activities in cooperation with the Bay Area skate community through March 26.
“Artists and skaters have so many overlaps. We’re looking at the cityscape and the sidewalk very differently from the day-to-day person,” said Oakland-based Alicia McCarthy, who is among the multimedia artists featured in the show.
Some of them, though not all, have direct connections to Ramirez and skateboarding. Tokyo artistHaroshiuses old skateboard parts to sculpt his work and has donated a figurine to the show. Skateboarding pro Mark Gonzales is a New York painter and sculptor who contributed a surreal underwater image on paper. And Bay Area-based Jeffrey Cheung offered one of his figurative paintings, many of which depict skateboarding’s relationship to the LGBTQ community and people of color. Also for auction is one original by Ramirez, his work on canvas as bold in color, stroke and composition as his supercharged life.
“The day Ramirez was killed, I rode my bike to the spot,” said McCarthy, who had in 2019 just completed the giant mural of woven color standing on Seventh Street (a considerably downsized signature painted weave was contributed to the show). Though McCarthy did not know Ramirez personally, they had mutual friends among visual artists, some of them affiliated with the GX1000 skate crew that included Ramirez, and McCarthy was a fan.
“I fell in love with their Instagram,” McCarthy said of the crew. “I found it soothing to watch. Pablo’s energy could be felt even through the phone and was quite infectious.”
Close friend and emerging artist Lanee Hood-Hazelgrove offered to auction her 5-feet-by-5.5-feet canvas, “Spliffhaus,” titled for Ramirez’s nickname, P-Spliff, and the Excelsior house they shared — “the first place Pablo lived when he moved to San Francisco.”
“He was 20 at the time and responded to an ad for a room on Craigslist. His spirit was so strong, I felt a little intimidated,” recalled Hood-Hazelgrove, who now lives in New York and is returning to San Francisco for the show’s opening.
She approved Ramirez’s move-in to the house of skaters and artists; “Spliffhaus” is her dreamlike, impressionistic depiction of that time and place.
“这是一个复杂、浓缩时间从2014年到201年6, living there, making music,” said Hood-Hazelgrove, a bass player who, with Ramirez on drums, formed the punk combo Das Wasser.
Ramirez was born on Feb. 10, 1993, in Queens, N.Y., to Carlos Ramirez and Michelle. Starting him on a drum set when he was just 8 years old, his mother also took him to club shows. He later went on to become a conservatory-trained drummer. Taking advantage of all New York City had to offer, the family attended museums and traveled, allowing Ramirez to soak in the sights and sounds of other cultures, including his own part-Dominican heritage.
And then there was skateboarding: A natural athlete from the start, in San Francisco he developed an affection for taking on the steepest streets. Footage of his extreme rides still lives on YouTube and at the foundation’swebsite.
在他2019年的纪念,拉米雷斯的卧室rlds converged as more than 350 friends, family and skaters filled the pews of the St. John Coltrane Church where Ramirez would occasionally go to meditate and sit in on drums.
“He was a quiet, sensitive, reflective and passionate soul,” said the Rev. Wanika Stephens of the Coltrane Church, where she is also its ensemble’s bass player. “That may sound strange given what we know about Pablo’s energy in the world, but there’s a correlation between skateboarding and the music of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie. Bebop and progressive music, music on the cutting edge, is about evolution, and pushing against the powers to be, so to speak, busting through the barriers. Coltrane said, ‘Damn the rules, it’s the feeling that counts.’ ”
Stephens and the church community recognized a kindred spirit in Ramirez, who shared not only his meditative visions but his talent on drums.
“There’s a real language that takes place between the bass and drums, the rhythm section, and I was really listening to him and his energy and how free his style was within the repertoire,” said Stephens. “He was a lover of the music. He spoke the language.”
On Wednesday, March 16, Stephens plans to preside over a “A Love Supreme” listening session at SOMArts, followed by a jam session led by saxophonist Karina Alterman. Throughout the month there will be yoga events, painting sessions and, of course, skateboarding clinics and group rides.
“I lost Pablo, but in a weird way, I’ve adopted this community of people,” said Michelle.
She had hoped to see a skate park or a statue in honor of her son, maybe a mural at Twin Peaks or the Waller Street Skatepark, but whether or not those tributes materialize, “The Power of Pablo” events continue the outreach Ramirez created for the sport just by being himself.
“Most mainstream folks don’t realize how diverse and community-oriented the skate community is,” Michelle said. “They have been so generous with donations of time and services. That’s really powerful.”
“The Power of Pablo”:Opening night includes a live musical performance by Tommy Guerrero and Vibes by John Cardiel. 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday, March 12. Free, with donations encouraged. Auction ends at 9 p.m. March 25. SOMArts, 934 Brannan St., S.F. For details on other events through March 26, visitwww.pabloramirez.org/the-power-of-pablo-2022.