Last night I caught the documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child on PBS’ Independent Lens. I highly recommend anyone interested in art and the cultural history of New York City to find it and watch it. It was a great overview of his life, and also the environment he came out of—the ’70s urban decay of NYC and the downtown art/music/fashion scene it birthed. It also highlighted the place of this new, black voice in the art world, and the resistance he met. I would also recommend Julian Schnabel’s film Basquiat for a fellow artist’s take on Jean-Michel’s life and times. It captures his spirit more than anything, and Jeffrey Wright’s acting in the lead role is spot on. Schnabel is interviewed extensively in The Radiant Child.
Joe Sullivan 
Isn’t it fantastic? I turned it on last night and couldn’t look away. I’d seen it about five times before, but it’s always so compelling. I love what Basquiat did for the art world. And, like so many other brilliant artists, it’s a real shame that we lost him so young.
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I couldn’t even get up to use the bathroom it was so compelling. It just seems like there was, nor will be, anyone else like him.
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