4 ms·

Basquiat in particular requires knowledge of 1970s-80s New York, the birth of hip-hop culture and graffiti, the art world, and a whole lot of other things. In s

Basquiat in particular requires knowledge of 1970s-80s New York, the birth of hip-hop culture and graffiti, the art world, and a whole lot of other things. In short, Basquiat is appreciated because he was a visceral, anti-establishment, extremely young guy whose work was raw and real, in comparison to the somewhat corporatized minimal aesthetic [1] that was popular at the time. He was also a really good storyteller (most famous artists are) and crafted a great narrative around his life. Basquiat's work is basically "80s NYC" in high art form. There was so much creativity coming out of the city at that time, it was really magical, especially compared to Lower Manhattan today. If I had to make a tech world comparison, it might be something like early Apple Computer against IBM. Hippies in garages vs. the suits. The film Basquiat is pretty good dramatization of his life. So is Downtown 81, which is a creative film starring Basquiat himself. Both are on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1Q44H2QyE&list=PL411118_g6AQsUKSzdBF0pJGyuN49iaXL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1Q44H2QyE&list=PL411118_g6... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ibOFlSM6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ibOFlSM6o [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism_(visual_arts) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism_(visual_arts)

TigeriusKirk 6y ago
I came of age in the 1980s. While I didn't live in NYC, there was a lot of crossover between the New York crowd and the artsy people in my city so I got a lot of exposure to it. The strange thing is that while I was aware of Basquiat and numerous other NYC artists of the era, I didn't think much of them. They didn't seem special to me because they were just what was going on at the time. I have a specific memory of when the biopic came out and wondering why they made a movie about Basquiat. I had no real frame of reference. Same thing with music, which was even more of a crossover locally for me than art. It's only been in recent years I've been able to look back and see what was going on and why it was special. It's mostly a matter of exposure to a lot of other art and music, gaining a lot of context and perspective. Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today.
- keiferski 6y ago
  > Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today. There is a lot of creativity going on with video. Especially in the budding genre of "fashion film", which is kind of reinventing the art of film to have less narrative and more visuals. To me, it feels like (what I imagine) the early days of film felt like. Stuff like this seems totally new and fresh to me: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BZcQOlhx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BZcQOlhx0 - https://vimeo.com/channels/fashionfilms https://vimeo.com/channels/fashionfilms - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDs4bekfOXTOQpYpptWowZeyVj0H2-Oy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDs4bekfOXTOQpYpptWo... Nick Knight and his site ShowStudio are at the forefront of this: https://www.showstudio.com https://www.showstudio.com
- ska 6y ago
  > I came of age in the 1980s. I think what you are referring to is at least in part a much more general and normal part of growing up, and somewhat specific to that time in your life. As you say it is "just what was going on". You don't easily question the natural (seeming) background of your life. An art work or book or song could be radical in the context of what came before, but you have at best a fuzzy idea of what "before" meant. Of course we all miss out on interesting things going on, all the time, but not for the same reasons (or scope) as when we are "coming of age".
- zeruch 6y ago
  "Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today." I wonder that frequently for myself. I still regularly catch stuff post defacto that I feel stumped to have somehow missed at the time.
mturmon 6y ago
Since we're on the subject, here's a link to a beautifully-written 1999 piece on the transitory nature of the 80s East Village scene, from which Basquiat emerged: https://www.artforum.com/print/199908/crime-and-misdemeanors-834 https://www.artforum.com/print/199908/crime-and-misdemeanors... The author, Gary Indiana, was the art critic at the Village Voice for several of those years. His fiction can be off-putting, but he was there for it all and his wised-up nostalgia is perfect for the subject. Here's a similar piece of his, from 2004, that's a little more forgiving: https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/10557/ https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/10557/
deleted 6y ago
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TigeriusKirk 6y ago

I came of age in the 1980s. While I didn't live in NYC, there was a lot of crossover between the New York crowd and the artsy people in my city so I got a lot of exposure to it. The strange thing is that while I was aware of Basquiat and numerous other NYC artists of the era, I didn't think much of them. They didn't seem special to me because they were just what was going on at the time. I have a specific memory of when the biopic came out and wondering why they made a movie about Basquiat. I had no real frame of reference. Same thing with music, which was even more of a crossover locally for me than art. It's only been in recent years I've been able to look back and see what was going on and why it was special. It's mostly a matter of exposure to a lot of other art and music, gaining a lot of context and perspective. Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today.

keiferski 6y ago
> Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today. There is a lot of creativity going on with video. Especially in the budding genre of "fashion film", which is kind of reinventing the art of film to have less narrative and more visuals. To me, it feels like (what I imagine) the early days of film felt like. Stuff like this seems totally new and fresh to me: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BZcQOlhx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BZcQOlhx0 - https://vimeo.com/channels/fashionfilms https://vimeo.com/channels/fashionfilms - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDs4bekfOXTOQpYpptWowZeyVj0H2-Oy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDs4bekfOXTOQpYpptWo... Nick Knight and his site ShowStudio are at the forefront of this: https://www.showstudio.com https://www.showstudio.com
ska 6y ago
> I came of age in the 1980s. I think what you are referring to is at least in part a much more general and normal part of growing up, and somewhat specific to that time in your life. As you say it is "just what was going on". You don't easily question the natural (seeming) background of your life. An art work or book or song could be radical in the context of what came before, but you have at best a fuzzy idea of what "before" meant. Of course we all miss out on interesting things going on, all the time, but not for the same reasons (or scope) as when we are "coming of age".
zeruch 6y ago
"Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today." I wonder that frequently for myself. I still regularly catch stuff post defacto that I feel stumped to have somehow missed at the time.

mturmon 6y ago

Since we're on the subject, here's a link to a beautifully-written 1999 piece on the transitory nature of the 80s East Village scene, from which Basquiat emerged: https://www.artforum.com/print/199908/crime-and-misdemeanors-834 https://www.artforum.com/print/199908/crime-and-misdemeanors... The author, Gary Indiana, was the art critic at the Village Voice for several of those years. His fiction can be off-putting, but he was there for it all and his wised-up nostalgia is perfect for the subject. Here's a similar piece of his, from 2004, that's a little more forgiving: https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/10557/ https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/10557/

deleted 6y ago

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