Product Description
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In his short career; Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He
became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in
the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene; sold his first
painting to Deborah Harry for $200 and became best friends with
Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the
public; Basquiat was launched into international stardom.
However; soon his cult status began to override the art that had
made him famous in the first place. Director Tamra Davis pays
homage to her friend in this definitive documentary; but also
delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense;
bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist;
conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist; he was
constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be
gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage; but it is
Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique
and allure of both the artist and the man. Featuring interviews
with Julian Schnabel; Larry Gagosian; Bruno Bischofberger; Tony
Shafrazi; Fab 5 Freddy; Jeffrey Deitch; Glenn O'Brien; Maripol;
Kai Eric; Nicholas Taylor; Fred Hoffmann; Michael Holman; Diego
Cortez; Annina Nosei; Suzanne Mallouk; and Rene Ricard; among
many others. DVD Features: Uncut Interview with Filmmaker Tamra
Davis; Theatrical Trailer
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Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is a respectfully vivid,
accurate, and entertaining homage to a painter who led a radical
life and left an ambitious body of work behind after his
premature death. The film opens with 1986 footage of Basquiat
being interviewed in a hotel room by friends Becky Johnston and
director Tamra Davis. For Basquiat fans, this film will prove
essential viewing to out an understanding of downtown New
York's art scene in the 1980s, and to see Basquiat's pivotal role
in this. While Downtown 81 is an awesome fictionalized portrait
of Basquiat and his crew, and Julian Schnabel's feature Basquiat
serves as tribute via Schnabel's dramatic artistic
interpretation, Radiant Child offers the best possible
documentary coverage of Basquiat's triumph and demise. This
feature-length film, constructed after Davis unearthed her
10-years-buried Basquiat footage to make a 20-minute short, then
buried that another 10 years because of her strong wish to avoid
exploitation, contains so much footage of Basquiat painting,
partying, and being his charismatic self that one trusts it
immediately. Additionally, Davis has interviewed every affiliated
gallerist, among them Diego Cortez, Larry Gagosian, Bruno
Bischofberger, Tony Shafrazi, Annina Nosei, and Jeffrey Deitch,
not to mention all of Basquiat's surviving close friends,
including Schnabel, Fab 5 Freddy, Glenn O'Brien, Maripol, and
Thurston Moore. The film, organized chronologically to chart
Basquiat's move out of Brooklyn to Manhattan, his beginnings as
an itinerant street artist named Samo, his rise to gallery
stardom, and his struggles at the end, marks time by showing
paintings throughout that commemorate moments in Basquiat's life.
While the film obviously ends on a melancholy note as a warning
about sudden fame and fortune, this film is ultimately more than
a documentary about one man. It is a well-made testament, from
the actual participants' perspectives, about what conspired in
New York to allow Basquiat to shine. For viewers who recall those
times, it may feel nostalgic; for viewers who glorify 1980s New
York, this film will solidify New York's greatness; viewers who
are artists may identify most, as one experiences a glimpse of a
New York lifestyle that has come and gone. Radiant Child is not
only a riveting story but a valuable archival resource, yet
another fantastic release from the stellar distributor, Arthouse
Films. --Trinie Dalton