HEAVYWEIGHTPAINT is a feature length documentary film about four figurative painters: Jerome Lagarrigue, Joseph Adolphe, Tim Okamura, and Taha Clayton. They are at different points in their careers, but share the struggle to survive the difficult, often grueling, challenges of the art world. Each artist faces unique obstacles, but the painters' uncommon friendship provides the moral support to spur them onward. Their artistic efforts will intersect when the four painters attempt to pull off an ambitious collaborative show - putting the purity of their craft, and their ideals, to the test – but also bringing the potential to land them in the spotlight of the highly competitive New York art scene.

Born in Calgary, Canada in 1968, Joseph Adolphe moved to New York City in 1992 to attend graduate school at the School of Visual Arts. He is currently represented by The Bertrand Delacroix Gallery in NYC and The Kehler Liddell gallery in New Haven. He is a professor in the department of Fine Arts at St. John’s university in NY where he teaches drawing and painting. Joseph lives with his wife and children in New Haven, CT.

An emerging artist with no formal academic training, Taha Clayton gathers inspiration from his passion for music, the world around him, and his vivid imagination. Born in Houston, TX, raised in Toronto, ON and currently residing in Brooklyn, Clayton’s paintings pull viewers into a dreamlike world, guiding them through a story built from his own experiences, environment, and fantasy. His realistic renderings are not only aesthetically refreshing, but they also address social and political issues, spiritual and moral virtues, and universal expression in love and life.

Born in Edmonton, Canada, painter Tim Okamura earned a B.F.A. with Distinction at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Canada before moving to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts in 1991. After graduating with an M.F.A. in 1993, Okamura relocated to Brooklyn, where he continues to live and work. Okamura showed his work at the Creative Alliance in 2017 as a part of the "About Face" exhibition, along with artists Amy Sherald, Rozeal, and Ebony G. Patterson.

Born in 1973 to a French father and an American mother, Jerome Lagarrigue was raised in Paris. He moved to the United States in 1992 and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1996. He has received several awards for his work, including the Coretta Scott King/ John Steptoe Award and the Ezra Jack Keats Award (2002). The artist resides and works in Brooklyn. He is represented by Galerie Olivier Waltman (Paris/Miami) and Dolby Chadwick gallery in San Francisco.

After the film, join us for a Q&A with director Jeff Martini!

Jeff Martini has been involved in Film, Television, Music & the Web for over 15 years. He has worked as director, editor, producer, music composer, cinematographer, sound engineer, web developer, foley artist and an instructor for artists, agencies, TV stations, indie film houses & schools in and around New York City. He has recently relocated to Capitol Hill, Washington DC.