The documentary follows Basquiat’s history and development with his art and also touches on some important events and artists for the entire history of art. For example, the documentary starts off with the beginning of Basquiat’s journey, where he would spray paint around New York City with another artist as a duo called SAMO. While other spray paint artists would simply tag their names, SAMO would spray paint their name with a different message each time to express their thoughts and feelings about things such as culture and politics in the world. Even in the early stages of Basquiat’s career, it is obvious that he was searching for things that went against the grain of the current art culture. Basquiat, unlike all of the other spray paint artists, wanted to send a message to the people viewing his work, rather than just tag his name to claim that he was there. It is because of this that Basquiat and SAMO became well known locally and beyond. Basquiat, with no money, came up in the art world using whichever materials he could scavenge from the streets of New York City. This is yet another way that Basquiat made himself stand out. By using random objects and materials that he found on the streets, he was able to express himself even more. This also showed his true passion for the art of creation and imagination, rather than simply applying paint to canvas.
A decent portion of the documentary was dedicated to showing the influence that other earlier famous artists had on Basquiat’s work. The documentary shows Basquiat’s paintings next to paintings of earlier artists, such as Picasso, and they talk about how Basquiat drew from these earlier paintings for inspiration. Basquiat was inspired by these paintings, and would only use them as a reference, then let the idea flow through his mind, where he would then modify it and make it his own version of the painting by recreating it. Some early artists that were mentioned in the documentary that influenced Basquiat’s work include Pollock and Picasso. Both very famous household names and inspirational early artists for modern art.
Basquiat was also very inspired by his own life and surroundings. Once, as a young boy, Basquiat was involved in a car accident. His mother gave him an anatomy book to fill his time and pique his curiosity. This anatomy book, and the car accident itself, were evidently influential to Basquiat. Some paintings show cars crashing and some paintings, including his most famous works of art, include abstract paintings of skulls, faces, and heads that resemble the diagrams in the anatomy book that his mother gave him. Basquiat’s history also includes comic books and cartoon drawings. As a young kid in New York City, Basquiat was drawn to the world of cartoons and wanted to be a cartoonist when he grew up. This influence is extremely evident in his artwork. At first glance, the first thing many people think of when they see Basquiat’s artwork is that it is in fact cartoon-like, with scribbles and abstract figures that would not be considered realistic looking in any way. This child-like appeal is what I think Basquiat was going for though. While other artists focus on making realistic paintings of the world, Basquiat had a plan to stick with simplicity and let his mind wander as he creates each piece of artwork. He often writes letters, randomly placed and spaced out, which may or may not have a real meaning. Only Basquiat himself would know what he was trying to convey.
The documentary conveyed a similar feeling that Basquiat’s work does, with the jazz and early hip-hop vibes and music to accompany visuals and the filming and editing style that suits a Basquiat documentary perfectly. The documentary does a great job of taking the viewer through a journey of Basquiat’s life from start to finish and covering all of the key details that make Basquiat who he is.
]]>Tamra Davis, the director, was very close to Basquiat and filmed him in his different studios during the peak of his career. These bits of footage offer the most honest view of Jean-Michel throughout the whole film. An honest, hardworking, driven artist who strived to push the boundaries of his work. The one-on-one interviews give you this glimpse into the mind of the genius. These interviews more than anything felt honest and comfortable and help the viewer start to understand the struggles and frustration of the artist. They feel very personal and helps you understand that despite being this incredible artist, he was flawed as well. Jean-Michel struggled with depression and addiction. This is evident in the interviews later in the movie where he is clearly in pain.
Another thing the film does incredibly well is pacing. The movie essentially profiles primarily his life between ages 20-27 before his death. With each introduction of a new part of his life, the filmmakers show work of his from around the same time. At the beginning you see his work is sparse and done on found materials. Once he gets money and space, he is able to paint at leisure in a real studio. The film does a great job of flashing in between showing snapshots of Jean-Michel’s life and showing the work he was producing around that time. These moments, though short, give the viewer the greatest understanding of what Basquiat was going through. The narration partnered with the images of his work helps you understand his rise to fame and how he struggled with that fame. This becomes even more important towards the end of his life. His depression and struggles with creating show in his last exhibitions. His techniques got more and more abstract and withdrawn the older he got. A really great perspective that the movie offers is the opinions and testimonies of famous art dealers and collectors. For viewers who do not understand Jean-Michel’s work from the start, these interviews help aid the viewer in understanding why Basquiat’s work is groundbreaking. The art dealers explain in detail how Basquiat was more so than anything, emulating and paying homage to his favorite artists. He used techniques longstanding in contemporary art, focusing on pushing the boundaries of abstraction. He uses words to create messages by repeating them or crossing them out. It forces the viewer of the painting to almost find the story in the painting. Basquiat drew most of his inspirations from books, poems, and multimedia he viewed at the time.
One thing about the film I did not particularly care for was how they actually portrayed most of the art. Most of the paintings shown only appear for a few seconds at a time. Now I understand that it is a movie and there is the necessity to keep things moving, but I would have appreciated a few more in depth looks at his greatest works. Often times in the movie, the narrator would mention an extremely famous painting, the film would show it for a second and then move on. I just would have appreciated a little more focus on the paintings themselves. Despite being a biography and not an adaption like Frida, Radiant Child hits the same pitfalls. I felt the focus could have been centered closer to his artworks.
Nevertheless, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Radiant Child is an excellent film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tamra Davis, being a close personal friend of Basquiat’s, pays perfect homage to one of our era’s greatest painters. The film does a great job of juxtaposing his art and the way he is feeling at the time. The personal interviews and conversation with Jean-Michel really make the movie. He was a complex person but did not come off that way. Basquiat was extremely young and yet so mature. He was thrust into this worldwide fame at such a young age, and struggled with the ups and downs of this recognition. The only thing that could have really improved the movie would have been greater focus on the paintings. The film glosses over them too fast and makes them feel less significant than they really are. Radiant Child is an awesome documentary for anyone who wants to be introduced to modern art.
]]>The film begins with Jean-Michel Basquiat and an interview taking place with Tamra Davis. Their friend Becky Johnston was the one asking Basquiat the questions, at the same time the movie showed glimpses of Basquiat being at work on some of his portraits. Also, they talked about downtown Manhattan and expressed how everyone could do anything there that they wanted to express themselves. For example, you did not need a regular job to become to be an artist in Manhattan. With the interview still being placed throughout the film Jean explained how he did not have a lot of money and lived in the streets going place to place for living, but it was mentioned that he did it in a more intense style way than any other individual living on the streets. Basquiat’s style was one that would just draw a crowds attention in right away, because it is so eye catching with vibrant colors, and with how much expression he put into one piece of art that people would be confused with some of his markings but the audience would understand that those markings meant something to Basquiat. Also, Basquiat ran away from home at the age of seventeen and by the age of eighteen he was the most advanced that he could be with music and art because that was what he was most passionate in and he loved to express his life events and art and music is how he expressed himself. Also, he was the most advanced that he could be living on the streets and on his own forced independence and it made him the best artist that he could be.
The approach of the film seemed to be very inspirational. I think this because Basquiat moved out at seventeen and had no parent supervision then and was on his own, not financially stable and struggled to get by but was a brilliant kid and made a living without anybody’s help but himself. He did not stress about much he just went with the flow and did not think very much he just did. Eventually down the road people took a big notice to his graffiti work and work that they saw of his on the street and they thought the artwork was amazing and Annina Nosei decided to give him a place to work in her gallery because they were that amazed with the style of his work. I thought his love for his work was just amazing, I do not think I have witnessed another artist love or care that much about artwork. During the film even in the studio that he was living it there was artwork Basquiat created all over. For example, Basquiat even felt the need to do artwork on front of the fridge. It was so inspiring to me that he loved his artwork that much, and not having a lot of money, Basquiat found parts off the street that he brought home and used them as supplies and would do artwork on them.
Another feature that I enjoyed from this film is how much they brought up how much people loved Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work even though he had a tough background and bad experiences growing up. During Basquiat’s early years he was involved in a life-threatening accident and later on got caught up into drugs. No one took that into consideration and judged him and turned away from his work. They didn’t care they were shocked that someone with Basquiat’s background became so talented. Buyers chased after Jean looking for his work. Fans either loved Basquiat’s work or hated it and in this film, critics loved his work, work ethic, and passion for what he does. Also, it became another inspiration to children that no matter how rough of a lifestyle they must not ever let up on their dreams because anything can happen in life. Basquiat with being homeless at the age of seventeen with his decision and barely making it by and at the age of nineteen now a millionaire. It is just amazing and such an inspiration to not even the children but adults and other artists around.
In conclusion, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child was a very inspirational and interesting film to watch. I really enjoyed watching this and learning about Basquiat. Before watching this film I was not really excited to watch it because I thought it was just going to be about Basquiat’s artwork, but I truly enjoyed watching this film because it portrayed more than just his artwork, and talked about his whole life background from his early years, to him because the famous artist that he is. Also, it described the type of person Jean was and how he became an amazing artist all on his own. Overall, I would give this movie a five star rating and definitely recommend to a friend and I would watch it again.
]]>Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child does a very good job of touching on every event of Jean-Michele Basquiat’s life, and not centering around one particular event. The movie begins by introducing the main character and describing his personality and his life at home. It then leads to his start as an artist with his group SAMO and even touches on the band he started called Gray, followed by his upcoming as a famous artist.
I personally like that the movie touches base with not only his accomplishments but also the difficulties that came with his overnight fame. The documentary touches base with the discrimination issues he faced and also the scrutiny of his painting style. Basquiat had a very unique and outgoing painting style that the art world didn’t fully appreciate when Basquiat was first introduced to them. Basquiat had issues getting his work displayed in museums because of this issue and the movie conveys to us how Basquiat digested this and also how he responded.
When watching the documentary, I found that it really roped in your attention and kept you watching with enthusiasm. I enjoyed the way they included both interviews with Basquiat and interviews with the people around him so that the viewer could get a view from all angles of Basquiat’s life. I feel that this is because Basquiat wasn’t the typical famous artist because he wasn’t born into fame, he came from practically nothing and he worked to make something of himself. This aspect contributes to the feeling of connecting to the main character and feeling like you truly know him by the end of the film.
The film touches base on the racial issues in New York at the time of Jean-Michel Basquiat. This had a huge impact on Basquiat’s career. I like how the film not only educated the viewer on the specific instances that racism affected Basquiat, but also how he reacted and how he dealt with this huge issue in his life. Basquiat was asked “You like being called the black Picasso?” and his response displays respect for Picasso and flattery for being compared to him, but also his disapproval and his unhappiness with the racial aspect of the question. In the artworks painted by Basquiat, we see very many references to racism and the history of black people. These paintings and events in his life had a large impact on Basquiat’s fame and his overall living experience in New York.
When Basquiat became very famous, he started becoming paranoid about the people around him and struggled with the worry of others using him for his fame and wealth. The movie does a good job of putting these feelings on display and supporting these feelings with his minimal support system and resources in his upbringing. In the beginning, the film talks about how Basquiat ran away from home and planned to live his life as a bum. It also mentions that Basquiat would go to clubs and look for money on the floor, and how he would go to the bar often, but wouldn’t ever buy a drink because he couldn’t afford to.
Another aspect of Basquiat’s life the I appreciate the movie exploring is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s drug addictions. Several of the people from his life that were interviewed in the documentary bring up his drug addiction and even convey drugs as a part of who he was. Since Basquiat died of a heroin overdose, I think it is respectable and necessary to talk about Basquiat’s drug addiction and how it may have been impacting his artworks and his personal relationships with those around him
Andy Warhol was a very good friend of Basquiat and may have been his biggest support system as an artist. Warhol admired Basquiat’s artwork instead of demeaning it like many other artists and critics. The documentary explains how Warhol felt about Basquiat and how they collaborated and connected personally. As with many other accomplishments Jean-Michele Basquiat had, collaborating with the famous Andy Warhol came with many negative reactions and scrutiny. Basquiat’s relationship with Warhol was extremely strong, and when he died Basquiat didn’t cope well, stating that he was overusing heroine. The documentary describes Basquiat’s negative coping mechanisms and how it was impacting him. Basquiat grew into a deep denial and bad position and he was caught up in a turmoil of drugs, art, and remorse.
Overall, and in my opinion, the film does a very good job of conveying Basquiat’s life story to its audience. I like the way it uses interviews from Basquiat and also several individuals who were close to him to give you a good look at the life he lived and from all angles of perspective. You get a strong feeling when watching the documentary and the details that are included are conveyed in a way that makes you feel connected to Basquiat and like you can relate to him on a personal level. By incorporating so many outlooks on Basquiat’s life in his time, there is no bias or specific influence as to how the viewer should digest the movie. I liked the multiple angle approach that was conveyed in Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child.
]]>In most documentaries you don’t always get to experience the artist in action, it’s usually just others talking about the amazing, or not so amazing things that they had done throughout their lives. In this documentary, however, I really appreciated the fact that the raw footage Tamara had of Jean-Michel was used. We were able to experience him in the way he would want his fans to see him, happy and still extremely inspired. He told us about him wanting to be a cartoonist as a child but knowing at the age of just 15 he was going to be a real artist, a painter or a drawer. He knew what he wanted to do and was determined to do it.
This film was conducted very well, almost in a very interesting way showing you so many different events that happened throughout his time in New York. His life was told from his own point of view, and the point of view of his friends. Throughout the film, his work is brought up and continuously described as being random, very on the go. He gets an idea and runs with it. In one part he describes his painting technique by saying his inner child just comes out and takes over. His paintings are put on display for us over and over throughout the film, they appear and disappear almost just as fast. This is amazing to me and very clever, it almost reminded me of how he created the paintings that were shown and all of his paintings/drawings for that matter. When we viewed the paintings we didn’t really get to take in every single thing going on in each of them reminding me of how Jean-Michel uses his layering technique when painting in real life. He was constantly changing the painting he was working on at the time creating layer after layer hiding different parts and then taking away bringing different aspects back to life. I really enjoyed that the movie was put together in this way whether it is on purpose or not. I believe it to be on purpose, as his artworks even go along throughout the film with the jazz soundtrack they chose to play keeping it extremely upbeat and positive.
Throughout his life, Basquiat suffered from addiction. Davis did a very nice job of treading over this subject in a very sensitive manner. He gained a lot of friendships over time but also lost some, and even grew apart from his family. Davis, in my opinion, did a really nice job explaining how seriously drugs affected him and hurt him, but she did it in a tasteful way. Davis made sure Basquiat was still seen as the good, charismatic, inspiring person he was before he was stuck in the deep dark place that he was towards the end of his life. She incorporated things throughout the movie some people have never known. The fact that he was in a band called Gray, and that he got that idea from the book Gray’s Anatomy which his mother gave him as a child. Incorporating these facts into the movie really helped to make it less dreary.
In the end of the film, everything is wrapped up with a neat little bow, you finally understand why Basquiat dealt with different aspects of self-loathing throughout his life. His family life, even though they grew up middle class, was still not the best. His mother suffered from mental illnesses and in his mind, he was never good enough for himself or his father. Everything is explained in detail, especially focusing on how many people truly did love and adore him giving the movie a very somber ending leaving you with a sense of happiness. He was an amazing artist but he himself, however, didn’t even realize that. He was constantly worried about being betrayed Basquiat was a genius he just never knew it. The quote “Nobody loves a genius child”, I think refers to himself he believes no one loves him or appreciates him as much as it is made out to be that they do. He felt off and on as if he had no one and nowhere to turn and that is what lead him to drugs and what eventually led to his untimely death… himself.
The Radiant Child was a very good film in my opinion. It portrayed every important detail of his life. Basquiat’s art is shown to us while describing what he was going through in the time period that the piece was created. The movie was creative, unique, and different, much like Jean-Michel. I appreciated it very much, and I truly believe Basquiat would as well.
]]>Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child draws your attention within minutes and keeps your focus until the end credits. Sadly, if you know Basquiat than you know how his story ends. However, the director did a phenomenal job of keeping the film in high spirits as best as it could be. Unavoidably there are dark moments that need to be shown to us, yet we can’t let the dark in Basquiat’s life overpower the amazing artist he was and how he changed the art world. His art made people think, question controversial topics and even dive deeper into their own emotions.
Few flaws can be found in this film. One of very few critiques I had was that there isn’t much emphasis on his backstory or his childhood. I found myself searching for answers, why did he run away from home? Where is his mother? I feel we aren’t informed as much about her as we are his father. Although I am left with questions, many were answered. What brings such magic to Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is we get to visibly see him speaking. These video interviews with him were taken over 20 years ago and hidden away after his tragic death. Not only does it give Basquiat the element of mystery by hiding him away from the world but leaves you hanging on every word he says. Some of the questions he was asked about his art left me with a better understanding of not his art but Basquiat as a person. He wants to appear simple on the outside and yet on the inside he is a very complex man. Jean-Michel Basquiat is not famous for his art skills but rather how he can see the world and translate it through his eyes and produce a completely different perspective almost like a machine. It was not his “skill” that drew viewers in but instead the concept of his work and the somewhat puzzling manner he presented it in.
Other qualities of Jean-Michel that the film hit right on the head other than his creativity were his passion for art, his drive for fame, temper to criticism and yearning for respect. As Basquiat grew more and more famous it never seemed to be enough, not the money but, the respect he wanted and never fully received. One would argue living on the streets eating cheese doodles to overnight celebrity, starring in a film, downtown 81, being a part of the mysterious well-known group “SAMO” and painting alongside other great artists like Andy Warhol would be considered a great accomplishment. However, Jean-Michel Basquiat wanted more. It got to the point he felt the need to turn to drugs to calm his soul.
The film draws attention to an artist Basquiat worked closely with, Andy Warhol. As viewers, we are truly able to see how they fed off each other in positive ways and lifted each other out of the dark. Basquiat was able to encourage Warhol to start drawing again and in return, Warhol was the friend Basquiat needed for stability. At one point the two artists collaborated and did a show. However, it flopped and drew Basquiat into a deeper depression. He stopped communication with Warhol and crawled deeper inside himself. Many rumors were floating around such as, was there a love connection? Was Warhol taking advantage of the young artist’s fame? We are never truly given answers to these and many more questions but left to decide for ourselves.
As we can see, a pattern starts to form in the film by following a timeline from early on till late in his career, a downhill slope for Basquiat’s art and wellbeing. Although his art is selling for thousands and he is well known globally, he is still being turned down by “snotty” high-end art galleries. His art starts to slow down. It was two years until he was in another art show. The art he produced now contained more empty space and consisted of negative emotions. In one painting he repeats the words “man dies”. At this point in the film through live footage of Jean-Michel and photographs, we see he is physically deteriorating. The death of fellow artist Andy Warhol sent him deeper into his downward spiral.
Overall, in my opinion, this gives insight into Jean-Michel Basquiat as an artist and as a person. His life consisted of beauty and pain. He had friends, love, ambitions, and dreams. When people become famous or have tragic deaths, we tend to overlook the true person they were and the lives they led and use tunnel vision to only see their success and demise. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, captures a part of the artist many people have never seen. His artwork in SAMO with Al Diaz, living on the streets and occasionally staying on friends’ couches. This is key to understand his work. Fan of the arts or not, I recommend this movie to everyone.
]]>An aspect of the movie that was so intriguing was the use of interviews that were filmed with the artist himself. This was a neat device to allow Basquiat to speak for himself and be a part of a project that celebrates his life. This interview was recorded at the height of his fame; allowing viewers to see Basquiat in his glory days when he had inner confidence and good lucks.
The approach of this film seemed to be very ironic. I think this because Basquiat continues to say in his interviews that he doesn’t think about his paintings and there is no motivation behind them, instead they just come “automatic” and his inner child comes out. Throughout the movie hundreds of Basquiat’s paintings are shown, some are only on the screen for about a second. Davis allows you to view them very quickly without being able to consider them or have any feeling behind them before viewing the next one. This reminds me of how Basquiat did his paintings because he was constantly changing or crossing out something on his paintings to get a final piece. Even though this seems as an effective aspect of the movie and shows Basquiat’s enormous artistic talent, it was one of the parts I didn’t enjoy about the film. By the end of the movie I had almost forgotten about every painting shown because there were so many and they were only on the screen for a short amount of time. I would have preferred to see just a couple of his works of art and had the artists and friends dissect those paintings and talk about the importance and the impact they had.
Another feature of the movie that I did not enjoy was that even though his hardships were mentioned they were not taken into full detail. They were often just mentioned without much explanation. For example, the embattled relationship with his father, his drug issue, and his fallout with Andy Warhol. With more clarification about these events, we might be able to understand and further investigate his death, meanings behind his paintings, and what influenced him to become a painter. I believe Davis didn’t want to disclose this information to its full extent because she didn’t want viewers to interpret Basquiat in a bad way or to remember him for his hardships. She further tried to present this documentary as a celebration through the music. The cheerful and optimistic music in the beginning and the end contributed to this. These choices helped to shape the tone of the movie. The music shifted the depressing ending to a merry and reassuring mood of all the great things Basquiat accomplished in life.
Davis presented things to viewers that we might not have known. For example, many people are familiar with his paintings, his relationship with Andy Warhol, his overdose but many viewers may not know that he played clarinet in a band called Gray. This helped the documentary be successful because it allows viewers to connect with a different side of Basquiat and learn these other special talents he had.
“Nobody loves a genius child.” These are the words of Langston Hughes’s poem used in the beginning of the documentary as a hyperbolic epigraph, meaning Davis used these words to shape the theme for the movie. I thought this was a very powerful and important poem that stimulated attention. Basquiat was a genius but he always felt betrayed and that his work wasn’t good enough. He then turned to drugs which led to his death. When Tamara Davis referred to this quote, I think she wanted us to understand that the meaning behind it was that Basquiat didn’t love himself and didn’t see himself as a genius or as his fans perceived him. This quote becomes relevant to many celebrities and famous people. They usually have incredible talents and are usually the center of much backlash. Most of the time this causes the person to become a danger to themselves and they turn down a bad path or their life ends in a tragedy. Hopefully one day this will change and there can be less incidents and tragedies of brilliant stars.
All in all, The Radiant Child is a valuable film. It allows us to see Basquiat’s art in a cultural context with zest, because of the music and great enthusiasm about Basquiat from the interviewees in this movie. Also, this movie allowed viewers to view his pictures as blazingly alive. This movie combined instructive information with a narrative story that was enjoyable to watch.
]]>Being an outcast and setting a precedent is never an easy journey and the repercussions of doing so are not guaranteed to be positive. Filmmaker Tamra Davis set out to portray the life and journey of a New York City painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat. The movie depicted his life and the struggles he dealt with when he was pursuing a career in a predominantly white industry. Davis shined a spotlight on how the young painter dealt with being the black sheep in the industry, scrutiny, and how he overcame obstacles to rise to fame. In this review I will highlight key points in the documentary that were powerful in conveying the message Tamra Davis was trying to show, as well as my own opinions of the documentary.
The movie discusses Jean- Michel Basquiat’s rise to fame with home footage interviews with Davis recorded before his death, along with friends and family describing his life and artwork. In these old home interviews, Jean discusses his artwork’s meaning, favorite paintings, and memories that inspired his work, but the movie intervenes with more recent interviews with characters in Jean’s life that help support claims of Jean’s work and rise to success.
Jean- Michel Basquiat was an unorthodox artist who used bright colors, jagged edges, crossed-out words, and streaks of black in his work. This documentary film gives the audience an understanding of how talented and special Jean was, but what’s ironic is the film shows so many pieces of Jean’s work zoomed in and out (with a blues soundtrack playing in the back) but moving so the viewers are unable to get a favorable view but rather a brief glimpse. The movie does not give you time to study and consider it. I had to look up the paintings online to have the full view and time to really consider each piece and its unique details. The movie failed to give the viewers the time to appreciate this young artist’s work.
Unlike many documentary films, The Radiant Child does mix in the actual biographical and critical content with its acclaim. We are told about his early years that led to his heroin overdose death in 1988. We learn about his life on “the run,” meeting Andy Warhol, his relationships, and even how he overcame discrimination. We learn about Basquiat’s art technique with his graffiti, flashy, abstract pieces that defined his famous style. The movie has very dark spots parts but ultimately pays tribute to the renowned, black artist who rose to fame with his abstract art.
What I discovered throughout watching this film is nobody really discussed why Jean’s paintings were so popular and in demand. The film did not give examples of how audiences or collectors acted towards Jean’s work. Looking at some of his paintings, you don’t notice the actual work put in, you just see lines, colorful objects, and words that looked like something a child could draw or write. I personally do not understand the artistic work behind his drawings, and I am not sure if that is due to my lack of knowledge about art or the fact that everyone interprets art differently. As somebody with no previous knowledge of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work, I was very surprised at the fame that arose from his abstract art, especially because he was a young, black artist in a white-dominated art world.
If you are looking for entertainment, this probably is not the best film for you, however, if you are looking to learn more about pop-culture art, you will be interested in this film. The film is a decent tribute to artist Jean- Michel Basquiat that incorporates personal footage and historical artwork. I enjoyed the film from an educational perspective, but as far as entertainment, this movie could possibly put you in a deep sleep. This movie came out fairly recently back in 2010 and the cinematography was not helping retain the viewers’ attention with the old looking scene pans. The constant interviews, pictures with captions, and blues music was not captivating, and the lack of a narrator made me feel like there was not a consistent storyline, I felt it was all over the place. With that being said, the movie does not define Jean-Michel Basquiat but rather Jean-Michel Basquiat defines himself through his artwork. Basquiat’s work was defiant, thoughtful, and revolutionary during his lifetime, he helped open the door for young black aspiring artists. The Radiant Child is a decent documentary to learn about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life and work.
]]>As for the technical aspects, I thought the documentary did a solid job presenting the story of his Basquiat’s life. One specific choice that I found admirable was the score. In
One issue that I had with this documentary is the fact that it did not get into the meanings behind Basquiat’s work nor the influences that birthed them. They discussed how he started out by leaving his home at 17, but I wanted to hear a bit more about his upbringing and what influenced him as a kid to become an artist. It’s always fascinating to hear famous people’s perspectives on their own work, but rarely do you see it happen. I think the reason behind this lack of disclosure is because most dedicated artists want to their art to be universal by letting everyone have their own interpretations and not limit it to one solitary explanation, but in this case, it would have been interesting to hear Basquiat’s commentary on specific artworks of his.
From another perspective, you could argue that the lack of artistic interpretations is fitting for this documentary because Basquiat himself mentioned that he doesn’t have motivations behind his work, citing that painting is just sort of “automatic” to him. This is intriguing because I’ve heard this same ideology from many other influential artists as well (Kurt Cobain is one that comes to mind). Every one of them says that they don’t consciously think about their work and rather their art is just an expression of how they feel. I find this important because when examining artwork, the first thought that always goes through people’s heads is “What is it trying to say?” when I think a more valid question would be “What aspects of this person’s life influenced this painting in some way?” When dealing with Expressionist or Neo-Expressionist art like Basquiat’s, one should consider how that painting makes them feel and why each component of that artwork makes them feel that way rather than inhibiting yourself to only view their creation as an intellectual statement on society or themselves.
I might be contradicting my last point by saying this, but I did have a subconscious desire to understand how New York City as a political catastrophe influenced young artists of that era. They mentioned that downtown Manhattan was a cultural center of art for many young people, but how did they respond to that atmosphere? I wanted to see specific pieces of art that depicted how Basquiat and other artists felt about the crumbling of the city at that time as I’m sure that was a major influence on their output. It felt like we didn’t get a clear enough glimpse of that.
I found Genius Child, the Langston Hughes poem at the beginning of the film, to be profusely powerful, thought-provoking, and especially disheartening at the end when Fab Five Freddy recited it as clips of Basquiat played over it. I think the poem was trying to say that genius children often have extremely gentle souls that need to be handled carefully or else they could end up becoming a danger to themselves. I find this idea of “genius” children being difficult personalities, like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain, to be truthful and if more people were aware of this, maybe we’d have less tragic incidents of intelligent people dying young.
In a way, this documentary was a bit ironic. In the interview, Basquiat talks about how his critics focused more on his personality than his artwork and I think this documentary does the exact same thing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as most profile documentaries tend to center around the person more than the person’s work. I guess I just found that part funny. All in all, I thought this documentary was a stimulating experience that was very informative and technically sound. Basquiat’s far-ranging influence stemming from his immense talents certainly prompted me to ponder the type of person I hope to become.
]]>As time progresses, Basquiat meets a man by the name of Rene who essentially fires the flame of his career in art. Basquiat gets booked into his first art show and this is a huge success for him. And after that, big names end up buying his art and his name now becomes a household name in the art industry. This leads him to doing dozens and dozens of shows throughout the country, and even shows in Europe. Basquiat’s paintings were like no other, and this unique factor is what caught the attention of many collectors and other famous artists. Basquiat goes from selling two small paintings to Andy Warhol for about $10 each to becoming a very good friend of Warhol’s and even making paintings with him. It seems as if Basquiat replaces his good friend Benny with Warhol. From the beginning, Basquiat did almost everything with Benny, but as his career was set off and he became relevant enough to associate himself with an artist as great as Andy Warhol, he ended up replacing Benny with Warhol. He also does this with Rene.Rene essentially discovered Basquiat and without Rene, who knows if Basquiat would have even gotten any exposure for his art, but Basquiat ends up turning his back on Rene and goes with the more known and successful Bruno. As for the historically accuracy of the film,the majority of the movie is historically accurate. The most dramatized portions of the film deal with his relationship with his girlfriend Gina. The film starts with Basquiat going to a diner and Gina happens to be his waitress.They end up becoming involved with each other and she is associated with him until the end of the film. As the film progresses, it seems that his involvement with drug use seems to progress as well . The more known he becomes, the more money he makes and the more money he makes, the more drugs he is able to buy. This factor does essentially play a huge part in his career. It actually becomes the demise of his career. He passes away due to a heroin overdose at the age of 27. One aspect that I absolutely did not like about this movie was the ending. The overall body of the movie was fantastic, but the ending was absolutely dry and seemed rushed. Instead of creating a series of events that could’ve potentially had the movies audience on the edge of their seats, the movie creators end the movie with a black screen and few sentences are played on that black screen telling the audience that Basquiat dies at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose and then the credits appear. I believe the director chooses this method because he wanted to put more emphasis on the life of Basquiat, rather than his demise. Maybe the simplicity of the ending is to take away from the harsh reality of how the artist’s life ended. Other than that, the movie really did grab my attention and kept me entertained as well. I believe his life was genuinely and efficiently portrayed throughout the entirety of the film. I also believe that the overall film was very well executed other than the ending. Basquiat was a very successful artist with an amazing, yet depressing story, and the creators did a very well job telling his story.
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