Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Release Date: July 21st, 2010

Starring: Julian Schnabel, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Glenn O'Brien, Nicholas Taylor

Director: Tamra Davis

Studio: Arthouse Films

Genre: Documentary

Runtime: 1 hour 28 minutes

The plot of the film is centered on an interview with Jean-Michel Basquiat, shot more than twenty years ago. The filmmaker Tamra Davis, who was also a friend of a young artist, offers a deep sight into the world of this charismatic canvas painter.

The documentary chronicles touch upon the significant periods of life of the artist. Basquiat’s first work was dated 1981. To 1983 he became an artist of great importance. To the age of 25 Basquiat achieved the incredible popularity: his career as an artist was at the height. 1985 he befriended and collaborated with painter Andy Warhol, but the sudden death of the last one in 1987 interrupted their successful cooperation. Basquiat passed away a year later. Heroin addicted, Jean-Michel couldn’t overcome his weakness for drugs and died at the age of 27, in 1988. The masterpieces of Basquiat, created not long before his death, sell nowadays for over a million US dollars.

The film by Davis is a biographical story of an unprecedented rise and fall of the artist, whose name and works belong to neo-expressionism and minimalism. Continually confronted with racism and misunderstanding, Basquiat could nevertheless have created and painted his own world full of mystery, which discovers the unsurpassed talent of its owner.

Click here to Download JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD