Basquiat

Jeffrey Wright, in his first lead film role, plays Jean-Michel Basquiat - the graffiti tagger turned art star confronting sudden fame, racism, addiction, and the challenge of staying self-determined in America. Julian Schnabel's directorial debut Basquiat (1996, 110 min) is less a conventional biopic than an impressionistic dive into 1980s downtown Manhattan's mythologized art world, made as a tribute from one painter to his late friend. David Bowie channels Andy Warhol in a standout supporting turn, part of an ensemble that helps make the film a profoundly expressive elegy for a life cut short. English language. Free entrance.