Art in the Movie Basquiat
Walter Benjamin projected the future of art in the age of mechanical reproduction, providing the basis of aesthetic evaluation for photography, film, digital and reproducible art. In the film Basquiat, directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Jeffrey Wright, Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, and David Bowie as Andy Warhol, the art world is explored in the midst of defining itself in light of the changes brought about by the technology of the twentieth century.
Benjamin stressed the Marxist democratization of art through digital reproduction, a media which allows for de-emphasizing the original work of art. Throughout the history of arts, particularly visual arts, we have revered the individual paintings created by artists, locating them in exclusive galleries and museums which are subject to the tastes and privilege of the upper class philanthropic elite. The value of a work is based in part by which wealthy patrons have owned or commissioned it, and the history of a canvas often becomes more important than the actual formal representation on it.
The film Basquiat explores the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Haitian-Puerto Rican painting in New York City during the 1980s. Working closely with Andy Warhol, Basquiat was exploited for his unique “urban ghetto” graffiti and crude style of representation. Schnabel’s film further exploits this image of the painter, depicting him in various scenes of poverty and drug addiction, dirty poor love and desperation. Our understanding of the artist is framed by excerpts from essays by art critic Rene Ricard, depicted as a flaming homosexual who leeches off of his artistic friends. Ricard observes the hypocrisy and self-indulgence of the art scene that is vital to...
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... movie stars like royalty or mythical gods and goddesses, viewing the drama between great archetypal characters in a personal psychic realm. By considering the statements made and their societal impact from a Marxist perspective, Benjamin’s method is highly effective, as it does not simply consider art in terms of pure aesthetics anymore, but considers art’s place in a society capable of mechanically reproducing and endlessly duplicating film, photography, and digital art. His qualm with losing the aura and mystique of an original work is negated by the cult of movie stars, the adoration of fame, the incorporation of soundtracks which embody a particular time period, cinematographic allusions, and time-capsule-like qualities of a film such as Basquiat, a 90s tribute to the 80s, produced both as a part of and resulting from the art movements and trends it addresses.
The earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the boundaries of tradition, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependance on ritual” (Benjamin 1992). This particular excerpt has a direct correlation with the work of Andy Warhol, specifically “Silver Liz as Cleopatra.” Andy Warhol’s rendition of Elizabeth Taylor are prime examples of the shift in art history that Benjamin refers to as the value of this particular piece is based upon its mass production, and appropriation of iconic images and people.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
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'Serial murder'; has long been a term used to describe those human beings that repeatedly commit heinous crimes. It is rare that the average person probes the mind of a serial killer without bias. However, what lies behind the eyes of a serial killer deserves more than the cold hard look that society so often gives (Aaronson, Inter...
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Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist born in Brooklyn in 1960. His art focused on “suggestive dichotomies”, like integration versus segregation, wealth versus poverty, and inner versus outer experience. He used social commentary in his artwork in order to attack the power structures and racism in America. During his
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