Melvin Van Peebles, 81, Makes Delayed Public Debut As Visual Artist

The legendary filmmaker, novelist and all-around cultural force shows off fellow artists’ work and his own at the Strivers Gardens Gallery.

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By Irene Chidinma Nwoye

Melvin Van Peebles sat cross-legged in a gray suit, suspenders, red socks and sneakers, his gray pigtails topped with a Trilby hat. It was a warm fall evening on the balcony of the condo where he’s lived for 30 years, overlooking Midtown West. Pointing towards the World Trade Center site, he reminisced about his days as a Wall Street trader and remembered 9/11.

“I didn’t have to go to the office that day,” he said. “Someone called me from Detroit, ‘Somebody is bombing the World Trade Center.’” He walked out onto the balcony to watch. “I saw the second plane.”

Beyond being a stock trader, Van Peebles has been a novelist, journalist, filmmaker, playwright, singer and actor. Probably best known for his 1971 independent film, “Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song,” which tells the tale of a black prostitute on the run from the police and was made for $500,000 (and grossed over $13 million), Van Peebles, now 81, continues to reinvent himself.

Van Peebles's Ex Voto Monochrome, A Ghetto Mother's Prayer (photo by Irene Chidinma Nwoye)

Van Peebles’s Ex Voto Monochrome, A Ghetto Mother’s Prayer (photo by Irene Chidinma Nwoye)

On Thursday, at the Strivers Gardens Gallery in Hamilton Heights, Van Peebles made his public debut as a visual artist at the exhibit “eMerge 2.0: Melvin Van Peebles & Artists on the Cusp,” which runs until Nov. 7. The exhibit features his 2006 mixed-media piece, “Ex-Voto Monochrome (A Ghetto Mother’s Prayer)” – a big rectangle of blue concrete framed in brown leather with two white wings – alongside two paintings from Van Peebles’ private collection by the late George Helton, a sculptor and painter.

Van Peebles’s former secretary, Isabel, was Helton’s wife and  introduced Van Peebles to his work. “It was phenomenal,” said Van Peebles, puffing on a cigar and uncrossing and crossing his legs. “So I took it all.”

Blunt, witty and quick to laugh, the filmmaker is a veteran on the art scene, though he hasn’t shown his work publicly before. “I’ve been an artist since I was 11,” he said. “I was doing art before I did writing, before I did cinema, before I did theatre. And in various occasions in my life, I gained my money by painting.”

He agreed to headline “eMerge” to showcase Helton’s work and promote other local artists like Josh Goldstein, 42, an architect who took to visual art in 2001. One piece shown at Strivers Gardens, “Wing Fat (Shmear),” is Goldstein’s mixed media photo collage on salvaged plywood. “Hood” incorporates Skittles on painted salvaged plywood, a tribute to Trayvon Martin. “I did not put a face in because I wanted it to be faceless,” Goldstein said. “He was faceless the night he was killed…an anonymous black youth.”

The show’s co-curator, Peter Wright, 28, a.k.a Souleo, began planning “eMerge” last year with curator Lisa D. Hayes. “The idea is to give

Van Peebles with Artists

Van Peebles and artists turn out for the opening at the Strivers Gardens Gallery. (photo by Irene Chidinma Nwoye)

artists a platform so that they can gain visibility,” said Wright, who asked Van Peebles to anchor this year’s event after learning he was also a visual artist.

The Strivers Gardens Gallery took up residence at 300 West 135th Street six years ago. It used to focus on established fine artists, said Hayes. Now, it presents mostly emerging artists, particularly those from Harlem.

“We’re honored beyond belief to have Mr. Van Peebles featured in the gallery this year,” Hayes said. “He is the quintessential renaissance artist. Certainly one of America’s leading artistic pioneers.”

“The work is off the charts!” Van Peebles said of his fellow exhibitors: JaSon E. Auguste, Greg Frederick, Goldstein, David Hollier, Andre Woolery, Misra Walker, Kimberly Mayhorn, Joseph Cavalieri and Beau McCall.

Still a crowd pleaser at 81, Van Peebles drew guests and artists alike to Thursday’s opening and received them like a godfather. He autographed copies of his books and albums and cut off Souleo during his introduction, “He’s lying. I’m only 16!” But on a serious note, he added, “This is us helping ourselves and this is what we have to continue to do.”

Asked about his legacy in the arts, Van Peebles says it’s the “eMerge-rs.” He explained, “They are my legacy. They are already doing it.”

These days his daily routine includes rising at 6:00 a.m. five times a week to exercise. Toughened by experiences in his life, including being bullied as a kid, Van Peebles says he had little formal training for most of his work. “Nobody in my family was a painter; nobody in my family was a writer,” he says.

Van Peebles autographs a copy of his book, "Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha"

Van Peebles autographs  his book, “Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha.”(Photo by Irene Chidinma Nwoye)

But over the years he welcomed each challenge and wore each role as comfortably as the last. “The unknown in myself, we’re very good friends,” he says. “I’m a little bit of a cheat. I just do what I like.”

(Featured photo of Melvin Van Peebles and fellow exhibitor Beau McCall by Irene Chidinma Nwoye)

 

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