"Plush safe he think.... SAMO"
When I think of the films of Tamra Davis, a smile comes to my face. I think of the giggly afternoons spent with my college roommates watching such treasures as "Billy Madison" and "Half Baked" while ingesting whatever substance struck our fancy. I was impressed that these off-beat, half-wit male centric movies actually came from the mind of a woman. I found something delightfully subversive about that. These were characters that we all knew. They were the terribly lovable yet completely idiotic man/boy friends who were aimlessly wondering the world anxiously awaiting the next "nudie magazine day". My friends and I loved these light hearted films for all their fluff and they've certainly become a part of our pop-culture history. Tamra Davis... aahhhhh...
Not long ago I found out that Ms. Davis was soon to release a documentary. It seemed a bit out of character, but being a fan, I had faith. Then I found out what the documentary was about: Jean-Michel Basquiat. O.M.G. If you're familiar with Basquiat's work, chances are you're obsessed with it. The idea of Tamra Davis making a film about his life seemed quite unusual and rather counterproductive at first glance. After all, Basquiat is one of the most iconic and influential artists of the modern art movement. His work is incredibly cerebral and spans the scope of subject matter from poverty, to racism, to fame, and far beyond. "Billy Madison" was a movie about a guy who couldn't spell the word 'couch'. I wasn't seeing the correlation.
As I said, though, I kept my faith fully intact, and went down to the
Landmark Nuart Theater in Santa Monica for a screening of "
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child", by Tamra Davis. Needless to say, I was blown away. At the center of the film is a very raw, very jagged interview with Jean-Michel taken about a year before his death in 1986. Tamra is operating the camera, while her friend Becky asks the questions. She knew him!! Tamra Davis KNEW Jean-Michel Basquiat. Woah. The film starts off with a musical collage featuring some of Jean-Michel's work, inter-cut with footage of him painting. Rare images and reproductions of his artwork run a steady line throughout the film, and provide the foundation for the story that unfolds.
Many of the people who were important to Jean-Michel's work, and the art world at large are interviewed in the film. Heavy hitters such as Julian Schnabel, Larry Gagosian, Bruno Bischofberger, Fab 5 Freddy (yes!), and Rene Ricard all make an appearance. (Don't worry, I had to look most of them up too.) Each one of them gives an incredibly honest and personal account of their relationship with Jean-Michel. However, the most heart felt and perhaps honest interview is that of Suzanne Mallouk, Jean-Michel's long time lover, and most ardent supporter.
While the men that are interviewed paint a very accurate picture of what his work represented, and what his presence meant, Suzanne is able to provide the best portrait of who he was, not only as an artist, but as a man. She recounts an ill-fated attempt to make him get a job to help pay the rent early in their relationship, only to end up fully supporting both him, and his art habit. Her anecdotes are the most poignant, and most defining moments in the film. There have been endless books, articles, news stories, etc. written about Basquiat's artistic influence or infamous life; Written by art critics, or other men of note. But hearing hearing his stories from someone who truly loved him is beautiful.
Throughout the film, Davis touches on all of the things we "know" about Jean-Michel's iconic life. She chronicles the rise and fall of his relationship with Andy Warhol, as well as his decent in to a conscious drug addiction. She notes all of the hype that has entered him in to the history books of the Lower Manhattan scene in the early 1980's. But ultimately, it's her heart as a friend that really jumps off the screen. It's quite obvious that this film is an homage to someone who she loved very dearly, and has been delicately put together to honor his memory, and not to cash in on his work, as so many of his 'friends' were quick to do.
As I left the theater, I thought back to my initial reaction upon hearing that Tamra Davis was set to release the seminal Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary, and it made perfect sense. This is a portrait of an man who was lovable, and mild mannered, sometimes idiotic, but ultimately brilliant. A man wondering the world, looking for his inspiration and the next step toward infamy. This is the kind of story Tamra Davis tells best.
Thank you, Tamra. From all of Basquiat's fan's who were tired of hearing "white people drinking white wine" pontificating on the meaning of his work and the devastation of his downfall. Thank you for painting this picture of a whole human being and for making us a part of it!
"Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child" is playing through the week at the Landmark Nuart in Santa Monica.
xo
LAF
