Film Screening: “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” (2010)

Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary, but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. The film features interviews with Julian Schnabel, Larry Gagosian, Bruno Bischofberger, Tony Shafrazi, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Glenn O’Brien, Maripol, Kai Eric, Nicholas Taylor, Fred Hoffmann, Michael Holman, Diego Cortez, Annina Nosei, Suzanne Mallouk, and Rene Ricard, among many others.

This event is part of a series of film screenings held in conjunction with the exhibition “Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat.” The series of screenings is generously supported by Maier Member Alison Keller Townsend ’75.