basquiat was the consummate artist i think – art just poured out of him, it was an extension of his v being. saw “jean michel basquiat: the radiant child” at a film festival this yr and loved it.
the film itself is raw (footage shot by friends, sometimes with serious sound problems) but it’s real and it gives us basquiat w/o any artistic spin – as he was – with a profusion, i mean a profusion, of artwork. that’s the best way to get him i think. v diff from schnabel’s film, which altho powerful is too impressionistic to be the only story of basquiat. in the doc, jean michel is not that distant or incomprehensible. there is an innocence, a truth about him that is immensely touching.