Jean-Michel Basquiat:
The Radiant Child
Movie Now Showing

I believe that there is a universe where the misfits, weirdos, freaks and outsiders all come from. These are the things I like to focus on, not the things that keep us apart. Growing up, I didn’t realize it, but the hardcore kids took the scene away from the artsy punk kids, and this occurred on both coasts. One artist to rise out of the New York Downtown art/punk scene was Jean-Michel Basquiat. This human wandered the same Lower Eastside alleys as Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch and Suicide. I can’t even count the ways that his art spoke to me, and still does. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is film that focuses on a lost interview with Basquiat, as well as his rise and fall in the art world. There are aspects of the film that show what the art world is all about, and it totally creeps me out. When they focus on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art is when my mind is truly taken to another realm. While watching The Radiant Child, it came to my mind how looking at his art was like listening to a raw black metal song or a killer hardcore song – misunderstood by most, but loved dearly by some. Not everyone can hear the melody or the harsh beauty in much of the musicI grew up with and listen to today.Those that can decode the subversive messages of punk and metal are in for some meaningful shit. The same is going in Basquiat’s work – when you do figure it out, a whole awesome universe is opened up. The Radiant Child also shows loads of fantasic footage of New York City from the early 80’s, which is a whole other story unto itself. The interviews with his homies like Fab 5 Fredy, Jeffrey Deitch, Kenny Scharf and many more brings a cool perspective to this film. From the very first frame of this movie, I felt inspired, and after writing this, I’m going to watch it again! After the jump, it’s your chance to check out a film about about a weirdo leaving his mark on the art world!