let alone paint great

from a working manuscript of a book review of a Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hogan: A quick killing in art is the first place to start if you want to know about the person who is jean-michel basquiat & what his life was like as new york artist, (in great social detail). but inspite of it's last chapter, chanel-surfing in paint, (a chapter that successfully tries to sum up his painting ouvre.) this is not the place to find out about his accomplishments in avant-garde american art. for that you need to look at the exhibition catalog from 1992 from the whitney museum of american art by richard marshall, & it's essays by rene ricard, et al. after reading the entire quick killing in art, (this book is quick killing in prose), you might think jmb was an accident in the art world waiting to happen: how could anyone that drugged out paint, let alone paint great

Comments

[city rocker]

wow, this is a lovely site! great job.

[dispatx]

is there not an inherent criticism of the taking of drugs here, not to mention the unconscious murder / merger of 'painting well' and 'painting great'. Whereas the former is surely the object of the phrase, I love the idea of the latter - painting great seems to suggest paintings of the great - see winston churchill's portrait of which he complained it made him look as if her were straining at a stool - or indeed, paint with large expressive gestures.

[Stuart Semple]

I think quick killing does an alright job actually. The problam is separating what Basquiat really was at the time, from the myth he's become. For sure the Rene Ricard 'Radiant Child' essay puts a more intersting slant on jean as a person, but Rene's glasses are seemingly rose coloured. As schnabel points out in his movie, through the benicio del toro caracter, jean simply found a style, got known for it and kept doing it. Ultimately you get formulaic paintings with moments of true expression, it's here the chaos of Basquiat's real life surfaces. Then we catch a glimpse of the real him, for a moment, yes we are looking at a great painting.

The issue really isn't whether basquiat could paint well, in many ways he can't paint very well at all. However like bacon he's not dishonest about sometimes not painting so well, which ultimately leads him to make great paintings... I mean some of them were some of them wern't.

I think the drug taking is another issue. I think pheobe is saying that this was the time! That was the excess of the 80s. And that's what jean's work personified in a way. I think without that he would have been rather boring. The art boom, the lower east side artists becoming establishment, wealth, the drugs...

But you know, I really enjoyed reading A quick killing in art, and often when I need some motovation or inspiration, I pick it up again, wish I was born a couple of decades earlier in a different place. It does transport one there quite nicely.

However I think to get the insight into Basquiat 'Widdow Basquiat' is the best... it's so poetic and visual, it's an experience. And it is one of my most cherished possesions, even though mine's been kicked around the studio and is covered in paint now. I still love it to bits!

[Sara Holt]

Hey.....you have alotta grreat stuff here. Please check out my blog, too!!!! Stop and smell the art.....hmmmmmmmmmm it's goooooooood.

[Bridgituerf]

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[Moshenic]

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[amitraw]

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