The Lenfest Season opens with its Outreach & Engagement Film Series from Criterion Collections, featuring “Basquiat” (1966) on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Stackhouse Theater.
Directed by artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, the immersive film transports audiences into the vibrant, mythologized downtown Manhattan art scene of the 1980s, celebrating the life, legacy and work of painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Presented as part of Lenfest’s 35th anniversary celebration and exploration of Basquiat’s enduring legacy, this screening offers a powerful introduction to the artist and the world that shaped him — leading naturally to Roger Guenveur Smith’s “In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat,” on Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Keller Theatre — a deeply personal theatrical exploration of Basquiat’s life, art, and legacy. Tickets are required.
The film “Basquiat” is free. No tickets are required. “Basquiat” (1996) tells the story of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who rose from the streets of downtown New York to become one of the most influential artists of the 1980s. His distinctive paintings — combining expressionism, pop art, graffiti, hip-hop, words, symbols and raw imagery — quickly captured the attention of the international art world. His success, however, was tragically brief. Basquiat died in 1988 at just 27.
Schnabel knew Basquiat and the downtown New York art scene personally. After Basquiat’s death, filmmaker Lech Majewski approached Schnabel about developing a film about the artist. Schnabel eventually took over the project, believing that someone who had experienced that world firsthand could tell the story with greater authenticity.
That insider perspective is one of the film’s greatest strengths. Shot on location in New York in only 32 days, “Basquiat” captures the energy, creativity, glamour and excess of the 1980s downtown art world.
Despite the limited budget and compressed schedule, Schnabel assembled an extraordinary cast. Jeffrey Wright, then a relatively unknown film actor, was cast as Basquiat. David Bowie played Andy Warhol, while Dennis Hopper portrayed art dealer Bruno Bischofberger. Gary Oldman played Albert Milo, a fictionalized version of Schnabel himself; Benicio del Toro portrayed Benny Dalmau, a composite of Basquiat’s pre-fame friends; Parker Posey played gallery owner Mary Boone; and Christopher Walken appeared as a hostile magazine interviewer.
At its heart, Basquiat is not simply a film about an artist’s rise and fall. It is a portrait of a young man trying to find his place in a rapidly changing world — and of the friendships, pressures, creativity, and contradictions that surrounded him.
