Melvin Van Peebles is unquestionably a renaissance man and his reputation as a living legend is indisputable. The incomparable Van Peebles has found success in every medium of the entertainment industry as a director, producer, writer, actor, composer and editor. From music (a three time Grammy nominee) to television (an Emmy-award winner) to Broadway (eleven Tony nominations) this trailblazer and trendsetter does everything his way. While he is best known as the “godfather of independent film and modern black cinema”, he also has the honor of being another first—the first African-American trader on the American Stock Exchange.
Melvin Van Peebles was born in Chicago. After graduating from college two years before most, Van Peebles joined the Air Force where he became the youngest member of the Strategic Air Command. Upon leaving the Air force he went to Mexico made his living as a painter for awhile and then it was on to Europe to do graduate study in Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam in Holland. Several years later Van Peebles moved to Paris, taught himself French and worked as a journalist for a French Newspaper. Adapting Chester Himes’ writings as an ongoing cartoon series for “Harikiri” the legendary French Magazine, ignited a fire and Van Peebles went on to write five French language novels. One of those novels became the basis of his first feature film, La Permission: A Story of a Three Day Pass which won him the Critics Choice Award at the San Francisco Film Festival. The rest as they say is history.
Unfortunately, sometimes the reality of people who are simply trying to maximize their personal potential is often complicated by prejudice, discrimination, intolerance and systemic destruction of the ego. In their struggle for liberation pioneers like Van Peebles, with their discontent and refusal to accept the status quo, create eruptions so significant that they become the bedrock upon which new opportunities are born. Looking over the life of Mr. Van Peebles we can now on truly fully assess the enormity of his actions on History. Van Peebles calculating merger of his roles as a businessman and artist not only assured his projects meet with success, but opened the door for many African American Artist. Best said by his son, Mario Van Peebels, and I quote: “My father crashed the gates, then along with Gordon Parks and Ossie Davis broke down Hollywood’s color barriers. They made it possible for all of us to come marching up the hill: Spike Lee, the Brothers Hudlin, John Singleton, Bill Duke and myself.” In 2004 Mario Van Peebles honored his father by making Baadasss the story of his father’s struggles through Hollywood. The movie won the Academy’s Spirit Award. Today the Hollywood machine counts African-Americans filmmakers among some of their most lucrative producers.
The evening will also include music performance by Nondor Nevai w/ Mick Barr as part of ISSUE’s Littoral Series co-curated by Suzanne Fiol and Tony Antoniadis.
nondor –
Nondor Nevai (drums/throat) is, according to Thurston Moore, “… a satanic power metal freak of nature…crushing, hilarious and delivers the damaged goods…A lot of Beefheartian voiced ruminations on straight up boner-boy sex with a shot of art history thrown in. Fucking weird and fucking awesome.”
For their performance expect an athletic display of psychonautical rigor that approaches and occasionally surpasses what is physically possible on this instrumentation; antagonizing the non-idiomatic and the pan-idiomatic, it will push the limits of extreme metal.
Mick Barr is an American avant-garde metal guitarist. Notable for his relentless speed and agility on his instrument[1], he is most well known for being one half of the band Orthrelm, currently signed to Mike Patton’s Ipecac Recordings label.
Some of Barr’s other projects have included Crom-tech, and a duo with drummer Zach Hill from Hella, as well as appearances with Quix*o*tic, and The Flying Luttenbachers. He has also released albums under the names Ocrilim and Octis, consisting of his own guitar over a drum machine. On the difference between the two, he says “Ocrilim is Mick Barr overthinking. Octis is Mick Barr underthinking. These names mean nothing when a live show is concerned. Come see Ocrilim and you may be forced to watch Octis.”[2]
In 2008, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
ISSUE’s Littoral Series began in 2006 and presents fresh and compelling writers of today working with innovative contemporary musicians to develop new ways of experiencing the works, in part by dissolving the boundaries between language, sonority and art.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.