“Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” is centered around an interview of Basquiat that the film’s director, Tamra Davis, filmed in 1986. She states in the beginning of the film that she put away the footage after Basquiat’s untimely death, only two years after the interview, and it was not seen again for almost twenty years. The film focuses more on people’s recollections rather than a straight narrative, letting the audience get a more organic view of the artist’s life and his struggle to handle the sudden and wrenching rise to infamy. The film starts with Basquiat in the summer of 1978 in New York City, and his beginnings as a poetic graffiti artist under the name of SAMO along with friend Al Diaz. Basquiat had run away from his middle-class
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Although the filmmakers were unable to positively identify what had caused the rift between Basquiat and his father, it seemed to me that he spent his whole adult life trying to prove himself, but was never able to please his father. He was rich and successful but that did not seem to be what his father was looking for.
Basquiat had many friends and many girlfriends, but the closest he came to a meaningful, supportive relationship was with Andy Warhol. He constantly surrounded himself with friends, but no one understood his situation completely. He found a companion in Warhol, but with their falling out over their collaboration and Warhol’s unexpected death he was left with no one. It was then that Basquiat’s use of heroine as a focus tool shifted to heroine being the center of his life.
In “Radiant Child” we see a violent rise to stardom that was uncontrolled from the beginning. Jean- Michel Basquiat did seem indeed to be as Madonna said, “…too fragile for this world”. He could reconcile the disparity between the blinding light of fame and the harsh reality of life. Although he was unable to endure, his work has. Basquiat left behind over one thousand paintings and one thousand drawings, and is now considered one of the greatest postmodern artists. Even beyond that, he left an impact on so many people’s lives, and is very obviously
Although the filmmakers were unable to positively identify what had caused the rift between Basquiat and his father, it seemed to me that he spent his whole adult life trying to prove himself, but was never able to please his father. He was rich and successful but that did not seem to be what his father was looking for.
Basquiat had many friends and many girlfriends, but the closest he came to a meaningful, supportive relationship was with Andy Warhol. He constantly surrounded himself with friends, but no one understood his situation completely. He found a companion in Warhol, but with their falling out over their collaboration and Warhol’s unexpected death he was left with no one. It was then that Basquiat’s use of heroine as a focus tool shifted to heroine being the center of his life.
In “Radiant Child” we see a violent rise to stardom that was uncontrolled from the beginning. Jean- Michel Basquiat did seem indeed to be as Madonna said, “…too fragile for this world”. He could reconcile the disparity between the blinding light of fame and the harsh reality of life. Although he was unable to endure, his work has. Basquiat left behind over one thousand paintings and one thousand drawings, and is now considered one of the greatest postmodern artists. Even beyond that, he left an impact on so many people’s lives, and is very obviously