
From the archives.
Here is my interview with artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel and actor Jeffrey Wright, obtained at the Venice Biennale and first published in October, 1996.
Walking through the grounds of the luxurious Hotel des Bains in Venice, I am ushered towards a man lounging by the pool, his portly frame swathed in a beige, terry-towelling dressing gown, his bare feet crossed at the ankles. Behind the goatee beard and the broad, two-tone sunglasses is New York painter Julian Schnabel, who has made his filmmaking debut with a feature about fellow artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Schnabel knew Basquiat well, exhibited alongside him and for a short time even shared the same art dealer. In filming this story of the last days of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Schnabel takes the opportunity to return to his own heyday and relate a good deal of his personal story as well.

The eighties were an indulgent and euphoric time for the New York art world. As art prices soared to stratospheric heights, egos followed and artists basked in the glow of celebrity. But by the end of the decade the bottom had fallen out of the market and many artists were left with the aftertaste of becoming too successful too swiftly.
With his film Basquiat, Schnabel introduces us to a young Haitian American artist who, for a brief period, was a major talent in the rarified world of Art. When Basquiat died of a drug overdose in 1988, he was 27 years old. Eight years previously Basquiat had burst onto the New York Art scene and became one of the most controversial artists of his day. His art shows were fervently anticipated as the big events of the New York season and his paintings were bought by powerful collectors and museums. Every aspect of his life was pored over by the ravenous media. He was treated as if he was an exotic exhibit because he was young, black and self-taught.
Basquiat’s career began as a graffiti artist, spraying his nonsensical and poetic epigrams on key walls in the Soho area and on the subway system. He tagged them SAMO, which stood for ‘Same old, same old,’ or ‘the same old shit.’ Basquiat knew that in order for his type of art to work its way into people’s cultural appetite he had to take it off the trains and alley walls, while maintaining its integrity and developing it as a technique of painting. At the height of his creative arc he was prolific, painting on anything at hand such as refrigerator doors, cardboard boxes, old car tires as well as canvasses. As a neo-expressionist, he was remarkable for his precocious talent and his eccentricity. The gallery scene was extremely proper and pristine and Basquiat yearned to shake it up.
Loosely based on a short story by the film’s co-producer Lech Majewski, Schnabel’s film is neither a factual documentary nor a faithful biography. As Schnabel petulantly insists, “The film is my portrait of Jean-Michel. It’s not a standard biopic. I took some liberties.” Although it presents certain real events, Schnabel’s approach is subjective and romantic. This is undeniably Schnabel’s version of the last decade and his moments of invention, he hopes, are true to the spirit of the subject.
Explains Schnabel, “When Jean-Michel died there were so many horrible, negative, sensationalist, vulgar things written about his heroin abuse and him getting lost in the fast lane of Art in the Eighties. I wanted to show the creative process of art, how someone mediates the world through their art and how making an image becomes a painting. I wanted to show that success really takes place when a work of art is conceived and realized, not when people agree with you.”
Fully funded by art collectors, newsprint moguls and Schnabel himself, the film was made for US$3.3 million, and shot rapidly over 32 days. Schnabel assembled an impressive cast for cameos and supporting roles and each actor worked a few days for industry scale wages. We see Dennis Hopper in a more cuddly performance than usual as the wealthy art dealer Bruno Bischofberger. Gary Oldman plays the Schnabel-like character Milo and other actors include Christopher Walken, Courtney Love and Willem Dafoe. David Bowie is amusingly droll in the key role of friend and contemporary Andy Warhol, complete with genuine wigs borrowed from the Warhol estate.
At the centre of the film is a stellar performance from Tony award-winning Broadway actor Jeffrey Wright. With his angelic face and shy demeanor, Wright brings to the screen the light and airy nature of an outsider floating through a snobbish art world. Only hints of the ripples of the confrontations are present under the skin of Basquiat, a suppressed rage and suspicion which later evolved into paranoia.
Says Wright, “That’s Julian’s editing of the film. He was really going for the ‘radiant child’ side of Basquiat. He had multiple sides but he always had a kind of youth, until it got sucked out of him. He also had a very dark side and some of that is in there, but it’s mostly avoided.”
Schnabel was bent on correcting the misconceptions that had poisoned the friendship between Warhol and Basquiat. “People said Andy was a vampire and fed on young artists. I wanted to show that he was not using Andy and Andy was not using him. They were real friends. Andy was deeper than he’s usually portrayed to be and he really cared about Jean-Michel. Jean-Michel was not Andy’s protege; he did not owe his fame to Andy.”
Long after Basquiat’s death lawsuits are still being leveled at Gerard Basquiat, who administrates the estate of his son, from art dealers who claim they had agreements to purchase the painter’s works before their value multiplied. Schnabel had to recreate many of Basquiat’s paintings for the film as he was unable to gain permission to use real paintings, and says he has no idea why. “He never read the script. He never saw the film. I’ve known his father for years and he knew that Jean-Michel admired my work.”
As an insider, Schnabel is perfectly positioned to reveal the incestuous New York art world that both loved and hated their creations. Ever the pompous egoist, Schnabel manages to bring all questions about the artist Basquiat back to himself.
“I made this movie because I cared about and knew this man. We were in a similar situation – I’m the only painter in America that was. The amount of attention that we had. We showed in the same galleries. Stuff about our personal lives. People were always writing attacks. Even though he was black and I was white, we went through a lot of the same stuff. This is about an area that I live in. I know all the participants and have a close proximity to Jean-Michel’s life. I didn’t want to have some tourist come along and make this film.”
Adds Wright, “It’s very much Julian’s take on Basquiat’s life. My hope is that the essence of who he was comes through. His work is powerful and speaks more about him than this film. If people come away from this and actively seek out his work then no matter how we screwed up, his story will be overridden by his own voice.”
Indeed. We still have the legacy of Basquiat’s work that speaks for itself.
What’s up, everyone?
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