The Radiant Child - Extra Credit

After watching the documentary film, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, I have a new appreciation for the artist. Just seeing his work and hearing briefly about him in class, I didn't really connect with Jean-Michel Basquiat. His art didn't appeal to me and seemed childish in nature, but after learning who he was as a person, what his art meant to him, how he worked, and what went into it, I really respect the tragic life of this artist.

He was part of a culture in 70's New York called the "Downtown 500" where all the different genres of artists came together. They gyspy/hobo-like lifestyle many of them lived was incredible. I can't imagine such dedication to my own art - I mean, I have heard the term "starving artist" or "starving writer," but I knew I could never do that to my family, so my art will always be on the side of a more practical career.

Another amazing thing about Basquiat is that he left home for good at a mere 17 years of age! I was no more ready to leave home and be entirely independent at 17 than a young child is! Basquiat was one driven individual, even from a very young age. He wanted to be famous and was determined to achieve his dream. He was young, intelligent, and multilingual, everything going for him except for his race.

Even though many black and white artists and higher-ups respected him (like Annina Nosei and Andy Warhol), he was still not accepted by "high art" art galleries like he desired. They even compared his work to that of a "primate" or someone "primitive" - the blatant racism in these remarks is astounding! It goes back to what Loewen talks about in Lies My Teacher Told Me how "uncivilized" is bad and how the Native Americans were considered "primitive" and "uncivilized" so they were treated differently and very poorly. Basquiat experienced the same on a different and more modern level.

I think the biggest thing that I respect about Basquiat (besides his youthful genius) is the way in which he worked at times. He would have the tv on, several books, music playing, and people conversing while he hopped from one painting to the next as he acquired inspiration from the stimuli around him. He would sometimes even walk across his own work!

The quick rise from a graffiti artist to an infamous painter in just two years proved fatal to Basquiat. He was under a lot of pressure to paint masterpieces and to create certain pieces (which made him violently angry). In order to focus, Basquiat began using heroin even though he was well aware of the ill effects of the drug. The pressure he was under lessened when he took time to work in a private studio in LA or when he vacationed in Hawaii, but he couldn't seem to stay away from the NYC crowd, scene, and drugs. Eventually, he got clean in Hawaii and upon his return to LA told Tamara Davis (producer of the film and his friend) that he would die if he got into the drugs again. That was exactly what happened. He returned to NYC and died on August 12, 1988. He was only 27 years old.

I can't help but to wonder what would have become of Basquiat had he not gotten into heroin, had the pressures of celebrity and racial tension not been so high. I have a new respect and eye for his work now and would actually like to see it in a museum someday, especially some of his later and actually a little more morbid work.