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New York City in 1980 was actually two cities. It was an exciting time for artists of all genres. There were many clubs and the music scene was diverse. Artists were making use not only of the lofts that were still affordable in the yet-to-be gentrified districts, but also of the streets themselves. Graffiti art was making a headway. Galleries were opening and taking a chance with these new artists. Andy Warhol mixed with these new artists.
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However, amongst this creative New York was a city of destruction. The drug market was so open, that the goods would be lowered in a bucket outside of buildings. There was a lot of coke and heroin making the rounds. People were just beginning to get ill with what would become known as the AIDS virus.
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Suzanne Mallouck left her abusive father in Canada at an early age. In this book, her relationship with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is recounted. The two of them lived together for a while and she offers the reader some insider knowledge as to the meaning of his paintings. She met him before he became famous and watched his increasing use of heroin. Within their circle were people like Rene Ricard, Madonna and Keith Haring.
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This is also the tale of a black man in an Armani suit who could not hail a cab, for they would not stop for him. Suzanne was friends with Michael Stewart, an unarmed man who died after being stopped by the police. The book briefly recounts her attempts to seek justice for him. It discusses why Basquiat took water into a museum and secretly sprinkled water in corners---for there were no black artists hung there.
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Despite her own usage of heroin, Suzanne stopped and went to medical school. She currently treats addicts.
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As an aside, I am adding information on the Michael Stewart case at the link below:
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Michael Stewart case
Basquiat did a movie called Downtown 81, I saw it years ago on IFC he was trying to sell a paining or something like that. Gotta add that Andy Warhol was such conman, he would rip off his friends, I think that's why he latched onto so many hangers on so he could steal their ideas as his own. He got the recording phone conversations idea off of Bridget Berlin.
ReplyDeleteAll his tapes were kept too---somewhere. There's probably more dirt on those tapes than the missing 18 minutes on the Watergate tapes. I can't remember which book I saw it in, either the diaries or Bob Collacello's book, but Andy would do a time capsule each day. As to Bridget Berlin, I love her attitude. She was her own person in a world and a time that dictated she was meant to marry some upper crust guy and stay skinny as his trophy wife.
ReplyDeleteI was the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in what feels like another life. They had some of those boxes on display, I don't remember seeing anything that interesting. John Waters had some of his art work displayed and he curated Andy's porn collection. Sadly I was with a bunch of wet blankets who didn't want to stay the whole day like I wanted to. Oh and one of those tacky bitches got too close to the Warhol/Basquiat painting of the last supper. I thought she was going to touch the canvass, one of the employees saw this and was ready to leap into action but she backed away just in time. I can't even tell you how embarrassed I was.
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