Fu Xiaotong's needlework on handmade paper on view at Chelsea gallery

Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea is currently presenting a collection of work by Fu Xiaotong for the show Land of Serenity.

For this show, Xiaotong unveils several new works on handmade Xuan paper that has been used within China since the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and include images of mountains, rocks, and water. Without making changes to the original quality of the Xuan paper, she illustrates the outlines for her subjects by piercing with a needle through the paper hundreds of thousands of times. She has titled each of her works in accordance with the number of pinpricks she poked in each one. Some of her works are large-scale pieces the at nearly cover the gallery walls while others are smaller-scale such as Pupil-380,000 Pinpricks featuring the image of the front of an eyeball occupying nearly the entire piece of paper with the pupil being the primary focal point as the title suggests.

Water, 328,440 Pinpricks by Fu Xiaotong

Xiaotong captures the true essence of her subject matter in every piece. With works like Water 328,440 Pinpricks or Water 322,000 Pinpricks, viewers can see and feel the swift movement of the wave in the center, while in images like 208,500 Pinpricks viewers can feel the calm stillness of the water. Intriguing characters can also be found in these works. For instance, Land of Serenity features a row of curved structures resembling hill or mountaintops, but at the end of the image, the head of a snake appears. Similarly, in 220,320 Pinpricks, human heads and a man and woman holding hands are integrated in the scene.

Fu Xiaotong was born in Shanxi and studied at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in Tianjin, and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. At Chambers Fine Art, 522 W. 19th St., through Mar. 26. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 10 a.m.—6 p.m.

Amy Sillman illustrates the evolution of her work in latest show

Sikkema & Jenkins Co. in Chelsea is featuring a collection of work by Amy Sillman for the show Stuff Change. The works in this show include drawings and paintings that revolve around the idea of the process of a working of art evolving or becoming something new entirely. Sillman encourages the viewer to see her paintings as works in that are changing rather than as a finished product.

She does this by creating drawings on printed canvas and paints on the top to blur the distinctions between handmade and digitally modified creations. Sillman is intrigued by the idea of stoffwechsel (the German word for “metabolism”) where something changes from one form to another. “I would call it a metabolism: the intimate and discomforting process of things changing as they go awry, [as they] look uncomfortable, have to be confronted, repaired, or risked, i.e. trying to figure something out while doing it,” she explains.

Untitled April Drawing 4, Version 2 by Amy Sillman

Notable works in the show include Rome which features an object resembling a kettle of boiling water in the center with steam coming out with a curved shape situated on top, and placed directly below the handle. Other intriguing works include Blue Legs which features two peg-legged structures, one black, viewed from out of a window with a blue backdrop, and Untitled April Drawing 4 which depicts an abstract animal resembling a hippo with its head turned and wearing colorful business attire.

Sillman earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and an MFA from Bard College in upstate New York. She has received numerous awards and her work is part of many permanent collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She currently splits her time between New York and Germany where she is Professor of Painting at Frankfurt’s Städelschule.

At Sikkema & Jenkins Co. 530 W. 22nd St., through Mar. 12. The gallery is open Tues.-Sat. from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Beverly Semmes goes down the 'Rabbit Hole' in latest show

The Susan Inglett Gallery in Chelsea is currently presenting a collection of new work by Beverly Semmes for an exhibition titled Rabbit Hole. The title of the show references the idea of Semmes going through a world of artistic inspiration and wonder, similar to going down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.

Semmes presents several large-scale installations of colorful fabric representing dysfunctional garments that hang from the galleries walls. They are all the same shape and are made with materials such as fleece, wool, velvet, felt, and crepe. Many of them are a single, bright color such as with Yellow Ghost, Green Ghost, Sky Blue Ghost, or Blue Velvet Ghost (which has green on the bottom) that also have small drawings or images sewn in the middle which represent the work of artists who have inspired her such as with Meret Oppenheim’s Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers and Object (Le déjeuner en fourrure), and Erle Loran’s schematic drawing of Paul Cezanne’s Tea Cup and Saucer with Plate of Apples. Other ‘ghost’ pieces feature different patterns like Red Dot Ghost and Black Dot Ghost.

Cups by Beverly Semmes

Semmes was inspired by a well-known piece by Merit Oppenheim on view at MoMA where she covers a teacup, saucer and spoon with fur. Semmes pays homage to that iconic work of art with an installation in the center of the gallery of stools made from clay with neon, light green napkins beneath teacups and saucers made from clay. She also offers a piece made from laminated fur and crepe with an image of several hands with fur sewn in the middle.

Semmes is based in New York City and her work is part of the collections of many museums and universities across the country including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art here in New York.

At The Susan Inglett Gallery, 522 W. 24th St., through Mar. 12. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 10 a.m.—6 p.m.

Cobi Moules is the 'New Kid on the Block' in latest show

Lyons Wier Gallery in Chelsea is currently presenting a collection of work by transgender artist Cobi Moules for the show New Kid, inspired by his childhood fantasies and the 80s pop group, New Kids On The Block. Moules began to explore his sexual identity by the time he was out of college and started to come into his own by the time he reached his 20s. During this time, Moules has made a name for himself as a conceptual realist painter while studying landscape painting at the Hudson River School where he developed his own technique of inserting images of himself into his work.

Moules’ landscape paintings were primarily focused on renegotiating his relationship with family, while this latest series of works is more about tapping into childhood obsession and searching for identity. The New Kids on the Block rose to fame when Moules was in elementary school and idolized the band immensely and is now bringing those fantasies to the canvas with several paintings (including paintings in the form of trading cards) inspired by fan posters of the group posing in various settings like studios, resorts, and school parking lots.

Studio Shot by Cobi Moules 

Like with his previous paintings, Moules inserts images of himself as one of the group members replacing Danny Wood as Moules never felt the same attachment to Danny as he did with the other members being that Danny was the sporty and athletic member, which Moules didn’t relate to. There is however, one small portrait of Danny included in the show, “I do understand when you’re young you reject people but as an adult reflecting on it it’s like ‘I know I rejected you but I still want you to be part of it,’ explains Moules. Perhaps like many teenagers, Jordan Knight was the member Moules most admired and many of the paintings in the show feature him and Moules being affectionate toward each other.

Moules studied at The School of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston receiving an MFA in 2010. His work has been featured in many museums across the country and has received numerous awards including the SMFA Traveling Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, Blanche E. Colman Award, Joan Mitchell MFA Grant and SFAI Artist in Residence, Art Santa Fe, NM. Moules is currently based in Brooklyn.

At Lyons Wier Gallery, 542 W. 24th St., through Mar. 5. The gallery is open Tue.-Sat. from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. or by appointment.

Celebration of Women's History Month: Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee and husband Ossie Davis

Young Ruby Dee

                                                        

March is Women’s History Month and every year, Harlem One-Stop pays homage to women who have achieved great things and made valuable contributions to society. This year, we’re honoring Ruby Dee, an actress who has appeared in hundreds of plays, movies, and television shows, the author of several books, and a staunch political activist.

Ruby Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Harlem. She fell in love with acting during her teen years studying at both Hunter College and the American Negro Theater in Harlem. Dee began her career as a stage actress making her debut in 1946 in the Broadway production of Anna Lucusta and was married to blues singer Frankie Dee Brown from 1941-1946. In 1948, she married fellow actor Ossie Davis, her best friend and frequent co-star whom she met while starring in Robert Ardrey’s play Jeb about a black soldier who returns home to his family in the south with a broken leg after serving in World War II.  Dee then made her film debut playing Jackie Robinson’s wife Rae Robinson in the 1950 biographical film The Jackie Robinson Story starring Robinson himself. Dee’s next big break came in 1959 when she landed the role of Ruth Younger in a Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, for which she received critical acclaim. Sidney Poitier was her co-star in the playing the role of Ruth’s husband Walter. Dee and Poitier would reprise their roles in a 1961 television version the play.

Dee continued getting more and more honorable roles in film, theater, and television and often collaborated with her husband. She starred in Davis’ 1961 Broadway play Purlie Victorious in which Davis played the title role of preacher Purlie Victorious Judson who tries to save a local Georgia church and Dee played a housemaid. The two would play the same parts in a 1963 film version of the play. In 1965, she became the first black woman to star in lead roles playing Cordelia in King Lear and Kate in The Taming of the Shrew at the American Film Festival in Stratford, Ct., and she was the first black actress to star on an evening soap opera playing Alma Miles on Peyton Place in 1968.

In 1980, Dee and her husband launched a half-hour talk show called Ossie and Ruby that aired on PBS where they presented the work of black artists. They received high praise for their roles in Spike Lee’s 1989 drama Do The Right Thing where Dee won an Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture and Davis for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. In 1998, celebrating 50 years of marriage, the two wrote an autobiography called With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together which is an honest account of their lives as a couple and as individuals as well as the professional and personal challenges they’ve faced and overcame.

Ossie Davis’ unexpected death in 2005 was a devastating loss for Dee, but despite her grief, she continued to work receiving a Screen Actors Guild award and an Academy Award nomination for her role as the mother of notorious drug dealer Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington, and most recently narrated the 2013 biographical television film Betty and Coretta about the widows of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Other notable roles during the later years of Dee’s life include those of Grandmother Baxter in a 1979 television production of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings based on Maya Angelou’s classic novel, prolific author Zora Neale Huston on the 1990 PBS special Zora Is My Name, and Rowena in the 1991 film Decoration Day for which she won an Emmy.

Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were very active during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s participating in several marches including the 1963 March on Washington where they served as emcees. They spoke out on numerous issues fighting for the rights of African Americans, and were close friends with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X with Davis delivering the eulogy at the latter’s funeral. Dee was a member of many civil rights groups and organizations including NAACP, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The two have also earned many awards and recognition for their activism and contributions to the arts. Dee won a National Medal of the Arts in 1995 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2000. In 2004, she and Davis received Kennedy Center Honors. In 2007, Dee and Davis’ memoir With Ossie and Ruby won a Grammy for best spoken word album, a category that includes audio books.

Other books Dee has published include My One Good Nerve which features a collection of short essays, stories, and poems, and the children’s books Two Ways to Count to Ten, and Tower to Heaven.

While Dee has firmly established herself as a successful actress and activist, Dee has never forgotten her roots and credits growing up in Harlem to be a major part of her identity. "I don't know who I would be if I weren't this child from Harlem, this woman from Harlem. It's in me so deep," she has said. 

Ruby Dee passed away on June 11, 2014 at age 91 at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Celebrating Women's History Month: Philippa Schuyler

Philippa Schuyler

This week for women’s history month, we’re honoring Philippa Schuyler, a highly intelligent and incredibly talented pianist, writer, and political activist who began her career as a young child and whose life came to an early, tragic end. 

Philippa Duke Schuyler was born in New York City in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem in 1931 to a black father and white mother and they lived on Convent Avenue. Her father, George S. Schuyler was a conservative author and journalist writing for a prominent newspaper called the Pittsburgh Courier and often took a strong stance against racism in his writings. Philippa’s mother Josephine Cogdell, was a wealthy woman from Texas and descendant of a slave-owning family. 

The couple married in order to defy racism in America and raise mixed-race children who they believed would grow up to be extraordinary. Like most American mothers, Cogdell wanted the best for Philippa and believed that feeding her raw foods like carrots, peas, steak, and liver would help her daughter become smart and successful. This seemed to work in her favor as Philippa began walking and talking before she reached her first birthday. By the age of two, she was able to read and write and by the age of four had an IQ of 185 and was flawlessly performing on the piano, quite often being compared to Mozart. 

Due to her father’s connections, young Philippa’s photo soon began appearing in prominent magazines including Time, Look, the New York Herald Tribune, and The New Yorker. Around this time, Philippa’s parents entered her in musical competitions where she received high praise and caught the attention of New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia who was so impressed by her that he declared June 19, 1940 “Philippa Duke Schuyler Day,” and she played as LaGuardia’s guest of honor at the New York World Fair. By this time, Philippa had more than 100 musical compositions under her belt and was a member of the American Society of Composers.

All of this however, was very hard for young Philippa and she often felt as though she were being used as an experiment by her parents to see how successful she can actually become. Indeed, her mother was the most determined to prove to her family and also to the rest of the America how important it is for whites and Negros to come together. Josephine’s family were appalled by her choices and were so adamantly against the idea of an interracial marriage that they refused to attend little Philippa’s concerts. Philippa received very little (if any) kind of nurturing in the form of hugs or kisses during her childhood and endured regular beatings from her mother as a form of discipline.

By the time Philippa reached her teen years, her life became increasingly stressful as there was more pressure from her parents and also had to put up with racial discrimination. 

When she was 13, her parents presented her with a scrapbook that included photographs from her childhood and school report cards that Philippa was repulsed by.  Despite this turmoil, Philippa continued to be successful during her teen years performing a piece she wrote called Manhattan Nocturne at the New York Philharmonic to an audience of 12,000 in April 1945 establishing herself as a composer, with her photo continuing to appear in magazines. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in New York City and in her spare time, educated herself further reading books like Madame Bovary and The Quran. After graduation, she wrote and performed Rhapsody of Youth during the inauguration of Haitian president Paul Magloire in 1950 and delivered a highly praised performance for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium in 1959. 

Philippa’s adult life was a different story as her race continued to be an issue and she began having less success in the United States as white audiences were diminishing and she began touring overseas visiting Europe, Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia hitting 80 countries over a 15-year period and became fluent in six languages. Audiences in these countries were more accepting of Philippa as an American artist but the fact that Philippa was mulatto was still an issue in her own country and in an attempt to move away from her black heritage declared “I am not a Negro!” and assumed a new identity as a Spanish woman by the name of Felipa Monterro y Schuyler.

Nevertheless, Philippa was disgusted by the gender and racial prejudice taking place that she abandoned her career in music by age 30, and pursued a career in journalism following her father’s footsteps. She started out as a political reporter for United Press International reporting from the Belgian Congo in 1960 when they achieved independence, thus becoming the Republic of Congo. A year later, she began developing staunchly conservative political views writing for the ultraconservative New Hampshire newspaper, Manchester Union Leader and, along with her father, joined the John Birch Society, a right-wing advocacy group. Philippa also wrote several non-fiction books and magazine articles around this time.

Philippa’s assignments for the Manchester Union Leader kept her busy as a world traveler often visiting Vietnam to do missionary work and she even founded an organization to help rescue orphans and displaced residents there as the war progressed. One of these evacuation missions took place on May 9, 1967, while Philippa and her organization were headed to Da Nang when the helicopter crashed into the sea. Philippa’s inability to swim caused her to drown at age 35.

Philippa Schuyler’s short life was undoubtedly tumultuous but not wasted. Her extraordinary talents and accomplishments have made her a role model for aspiring, young musicians who can achieve anything with hard work despite major hardships, and in her later life, she came to the aid of many refugees in parts of the world ravaged by war.

Longtime neighborhood barber Timothy 'Polo' Greene reflects fondly upon his 30-year career

Timothy 'Polo' Greene

When you step into Harlem Masters Barbershop on Lenox Avenue, you know that you will be well taken-care of and receive a top-notch haircut or style. The spacious and homey environment filled with photographs of celebrities, politicians and family friends of owner Timothy “Polo” Greene will instantly tell you that this business is run by a man who truly takes pride in what he does.  You also get the feeling that Greene really does consider his barbershop to be his second home as, in the back corner of the shop are lounge chairs, a television set and a table with a chess board.

Greene’s history with Harlem Masters dates back to 1994 when the shop was known as “Fifth Avenue Parlor.”  He worked there for eight years before becoming the shop’s owner in 2002, renaming it “Harlem Masters” to reflect the community and the fact that many employees have earned master degrees in barbering.

Reflecting on what he’s seen over the past 30 years, Greene said, “So many businesses closed and so many businesses opened. Change has been interesting here in Harlem.” The community also was hit hard when Hurricane Sandy ravished New York City in October 2012, causing many businesses to withdraw.

“It was a rebuilding process for everybody,” Greene said. “My wife [entrepreneur Princess Jenkins] and I try to re-create ourselves as often as possible so we can get the next vision of where things are and where things are going to be. A lot of people have come to Harlem to create new businesses. Here at Harlem Masters, we make sure that we connect into the community.”

Asked about notable figures who have passed through the doors of Harlem Masters, Greene described his fond memories of meeting his idol Muhammad Ali. “I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet one of the greatest figures in the world,” he said, speaking of the former heavyweight champion. Greene was introduced the champ when Ali was in town about to receive an award as “Athlete of the Century” and was in search of a barber to cut his hair for the big event.  Greene remembers how he felt when setting eyes on the boxer in his suite at the Sheraton Hotel near Times Square. “I was in awe,” he said. “I was just a simple barber, just a regular hardworking guy and I had the opportunity to meet this man and to see him in person was probably one of the greatest moments in my life. He’s a hero to me.” Ali met Greene’s wife and children as well, giving Greene’s daughters hugs and kisses. Ali greeted his star struck fan and, on realizing that Greene was going to be his barber, asked if he was a slow cutter or a fast cutter.  When Greene said he was a fast cutter, Ali jokingly said, “If you mess me up, I’m gonna knock you out.” After a few more lighthearted jokes, Ali made Greene his personal barber. Other clients of Greene’s include actor and comedian Kenan Thompson, actor and singer Keith David, and rapper Jadakiss to name a few. Other notables who have passed through the shop over the years include U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and State Senator Bill Perkins.

When he’s not cutting hair, Greene takes time to reach out to others within the community including troubled youths and incarcerated individuals. His own experience of making mistakes and being able to make something of himself inspired him to help others do the same. “I would give [incarcerated individuals] the opportunity because I myself had the opportunity;  I messed up in my life when I was younger and I turned my life around to correct the wrong and I said ‘well if I can do it, I believe someone else can do it,’ so I didn’t turn my back on incarcerated people, I felt like everyone needs to have a chance.”

To this day, Greene meets with these individuals in his home talking with them to determine whether or not they will be able to enter the professional world of barbering. And he prepares his mentees well with thorough training and education “I have rules and regulations based on the license law and I follow those rules to the letter. If you want to be a barber and work in a professional setting, I’m willing to do that,” he says.

“I help direct them towards what they need to do, what they need to know, and what they need to learn as a professional barber, so they would have the knowledge and experience they need in case they want to move to another barbershop,” he explains, adding that “Some have gone on to open their own barbershops, which is pretty impressive. So I’ve felt that it’s a duty for me as a professional barber to give someone an opportunity to display what they know.”

When he’s not cutting hair, Greene engages in a variety of sports and identifies himself as an athlete, which is why he gave himself the nickname “Polo” fitting well with his last name. “I wear Polo (brand) clothes and my last name is Greene and I liked the sound of the name ‘Polo Greene’ …so I adopted the name and it fits me well,” he explains.  “Polo is a sport as we know it and I’m an athlete. I play baseball, football, basketball, track, tennis, and ride horses. I know how to play them and I play them well so I consider myself an athlete.”

Screenings, workshops, lectures, and Q&As highlight the 6th Annual Athena Film Festival honoring women in film

A groundbreaking event took place at the Barnard College Athena Film Festival, which celebrates women and leadership in film, where for the first time in its six-year history, a man received an award. Paul Feig, director, actor, producer, and screenwriter, was honored with the inaugural “Athena Leading Man Award”  for bringing women into the spotlight in comedies such as Spy, The Heat, and Bridesmaids.

“This means so much to me, because I’m so committed to wanting to have portrayals of women on screen that they’ve been denied for so long,” said Feig at the Feb. 20 awards ceremony and panel discussion at Columbia’s Barnard College. “It really just came from years of seeing the funniest women I knew being stuck being the bitchy girlfriend or the mean wife and all the guys I knew were getting to be hilarious,” he said, adding that he wanted to get rid of “what a little boy’s image of what a woman is.”

Feig said he became a director of comedies featuring women in lead roles believing they had underlying potential to be incredibly funny but not being able to show it.

“I haven’t seen them portrayed well and I wasn’t seeing them get the opportunities they should have,” he said. That’s really been my only goal.”

Feig also recently wrapped up directing a remake of the 1984 film Ghostbusters starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. On Saturday, Feig and Kate McKinnon of Saturday Night Live fame and Columbia graduate, participated in a panel discussion moderated by Time Magazine editor Brenda Luscombe before a packed audience.

Before the discussion began, a marching band of young students entered with trumpets and drums performing the theme song from the movie Ghostbusters followed by enthusiastic cheering and applause from the audience.

Then Kate McKinnon, who majored in theater at Barnard College, introduced Feig speaking of his many accomplishments and her experience working with him.

“Paul Feig is one of the revolutionary artists, we might as well call him ‘Paul Revere Feig’ a joke written by pro comedian in car on way here. I knew Paul from being a die-hard Bridesmaids fan and then realized that he directed some of my favorite episodes on TV like The Office or Arrested Development. Then I had the pleasure of meeting him when he did me the greatest favor a person could ever do was make someone a Ghostbuster.”

Paul has let women be tough cops, CIA operatives, lovable but drunk flailing losers…but his most revolutionary act has not just been about casting women as revolutionary scientists and badasses, we’ve [kind of seen that before]. His true subversion lies in creating female protagonists who are striving for the universal goals of friendship, connectiveness, justice, and personal growth.”

After Spy, Bridesmaids, The Heat, and now Ghostbusters, these are movies that have elements that I knew could appeal on a movie-going level, there’s action, there’s special effects because that’s what foreign audiences will go to see. I wanted to figure out how to make it irresistible so they will go see this,” he said.

McKinnon also credits Feig for helping to start her career in film. “The magnitude of the opportunity that he gave both me and Leslie (Jones, her Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters co-star) cannot be quantified using the numbers of this universe. Saturday Night Live is an incredible job and practice but is hopefully a launching pad in a career in other venues.  It does come down to opportunity and artists need patrons and need people to champion for them and Paul certainly did that for me.”

Besides the panel discussion, the festival also included workshops and screenings of films. 

Of the films shown, one that stood out was A Ballerina’s Tale, a documentary about Misty Copeland, the first black ballerina to be a principal dancer at the prestigious American Ballet Theater. Directed by Nelson George and produced by Leslie Norville, A Ballerina’s Tale tells the story of Misty Copeland’s earliest beginnings as a dancer taking lessons at age 13 and how while living in Southern California and discovered her passion and natural talent for dance. The film follows Copeland who takes the viewer on a tour of the studios in New York City where she rehearsed starting at age 16, before being accepted into American Ballet Theater at age 18.

Through interviews with Copeland and her friends, colleaugues, teachers, and mentors, we learn about the challenges Copeland would face while breaking into the industry. The most major issue was her race as black ballerinas were not considered ideal for the role of a swan or a fairy, which made her feel isolated in an environment where she felt most at home. She also suffered a shin injury around 2012, which almost ended her career. But Copeland overcame these struggles and has broken many barriers and has been cast in many lead roles including the title role in Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Gulnare in Le Corsaire, Swanilda in Coppelia, and she was the first black dancer to play the dual role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake in 2014. She also played the role of Ivy in Leonard Bernstein’s musical On The Town on Broadway in the summer of 2015. Perhaps her biggest accomplishment thus far is highlighted at the end of the film when the screen turns black with the caption “Misty Copeland became the principal American Ballet Theater dancer June 30, 2015” before displaying the empowering message “Dreams do Come True.” The closing scene in the film features Copeland walking past P.J. Clarke’s restaurant in Lincoln Center hugging a male companion who appears very proud of what she’s achieved.

Chris "Daze" Ellis and other 'Urban Art Legends' speak at the Museum of the City of New York

You won’t see much graffiti on subway cars or building walls any more, but the art form that dominated the urban landscape in the 1970s and ‘80s is still around.

         “Since the 1980s, graffiti has slowly moved from the streets and the trains into the galleries and now museums, which is a fairly new development,” said graffiti artist Alan KET at a recent panel discussion at the Museum of the City of New York.

         He joined fellow graffiti artists Chris “DAZE” Ellis and Nick Walker at the East Harlem museum Feb. 9 to discuss the evolution of graffiti from an illegal form of vandalism to a respected form of artistic expression that galleries, museums and institutions around the world have come to accept.

         Fran Rosenfeld, the museum’s curator for public programs, introduced KET, who’s been creating art on the streets and on trains around the world for the last 25 years as well as documenting it from an early age in photographs. In his most recent book, Urban Art Legends, KET featured bios and commentary about 37 of the most influential street artists along with images of their work.

          Chris Ellis, known as “DAZE,” is a native New Yorker and former student at the High School of Art and Design who has done work in studios and in the streets. His works are part of collections in museums and institutions around the world including the Museum of the City of New York, which is currently presenting several of his paintings depicting New York City life for the exhibition The City is my Muse. He didn’t start out with the goal of exhibiting in galleries or museums. “I thought that was kind of an unattainable thing,” he said. But once he tried out a studio setting it “really kind of sparked my interest in making more paintings and possibly exhibiting and eventually the media kind of caught on.”

The Odyssey by Chris "Daze" Ellis

         Nick Walker emerged from England’s Bristol graffiti art scene in the early 1980s and has found fame both in streets around the world as well as in galleries. His subjects poke fun at the status quo and he has created several characters including the dapper gentleman that he calls the vandal, which was featured in a video by The Black Eyed Peas.

         The artists also described their passion for New York City and why it’s a common subject in their work. For Walker, it’s the architecture and the skyline. “The city’s like a playground, the bigger the city, the taller the buildings and I’ve always been into big skyscrapers,” he said.

         For DAZE, it’s about his personal experiences growing up in an interesting city. “I remember reading about different artists and what they tackled as subject matter and reading that you should paint about what you know best so I started thinking about the city and my experiences growing up in New York and I thought, ‘Well that’s a canvas of inspiration right there.’ It was the streets that I knew, characters I’ve seen, like a direct connection so I wanted to make things like that where people could have a direct connection.”

         Both artists agreed that graffiti as an art form has come a very long way since its beginnings on subway cars in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Said DAZE, “I think [galleries and museums] are becoming more open to [graffiti art] because they realize that people are interested in it and there’s still an audience for it…institutions are starting to take notice.”

 Walker added that street artists “are more approachable these days. That wasn’t the case in the beginning.”

A reception followed, where the artists signed copies of Urban Art Legends for eager fans who also took a look at the works in The City is my Muse, which will be on view at the Museum of the City of New York until May 1. Copies of Urban Art Legends can be purchased at the museum’s gift shop.