JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD (Tamra Davis). 90 minutes. Opens today (Thursday, October 7) at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See times. Rating: NNN
In 1985 director Tamra Davis shot an interview with her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat in L.A., where he sometimes travelled to escape the pressures of the New York art scene. Hesitant to join those who cashed in on the artist’s friendship, Davis left the footage in a drawer. Now she’s expanded it to feature length by speaking to the painter’s friends, lovers, dealers and admirers.
Basquiat’s short life makes a compelling story whether told in doc form or in the 1996 biopic by rival Julian Schnabel (who also appears here). It’s easy to see why the charismatic and handsome young graffiti poet was so sure he would be famous. Fascinating footage shows how Basquiat worked ferociously on many paintings at once as TV and music blared and parties raged in his studio.
While Schnabel’s film stresses Basquiat’s family history of mental illness, Davis depicts an angry, lost man separated from friends by his success yet isolated in the art world as the lone lionized black artist. Discourse about his work was often tinged with racism, and he grew increasingly paranoid about being used, even turning on Andy Warhol, who tried to offer him support. The film cites Warhol’s death as one factor leading to Basquiat’s fatal heroin overdose at 27.
What’s missing is a thoughtful evaluation of Basquiat’s oeuvre that goes beyond “He’s now recognized as a genius whose work is worth millions.” Davis could have spoken to African-American visual artists and others who’ve been influenced by him.
