The Brezinski Project

Thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating look back at the 1980s NY art scene featuring a cast of eclectic, amusing and wildly differing personalities from that time including the big names. Why hadn't I been aware of this artist, Brezinski, contemporary of Basquiat and other stellar household names? Would have enjoyed even more if we had dwelt a little longer on some of the stills, just to take everything in. The East Village was fabulously evoked 5ough - how times have changed! Happy to see its' London run has been rightfully extended with showings at the ICA and hoping it will hit a streaming platform in the coming months. Definitely recommend if you have any kind of interest in that era.

I was fortunate to see Make Me Famous twice in the theaters with different audiences and its interesting watch something that makes people talk about art afterward.

I think anyone reading this should watch the film, so I won't give any direct spoilers. But I will say, one of my favorite things about it was the notion that art can't be about being famous, even though all artists are striving to be famous, whether they will admit it or not. Looking at the 1980s New York underground art world, which director Brian Vincent was able to capture through archive footage, photographs and interviews... I realized something. Whether it's Basquiat, Warhol, Haring, (Brezinski) or anyone who is prolific and focused on their art.. it's not even about the art. The details don't matter. What matters is for the artist to convey their own truth. Which also means showing their mood. And that could be the 100% random paint splatters in a Pollack, or the one color (seemingly lazy) giant canvas in a Rothko... it doesn't matter if there was one more spec of paint or less paint... it's all about the truth of feelings.

So art is only personal to the artist, but the viewer resonates with if they think it was true or pretentious, before they pick up on anything else. And some would argue that a replica of a bag of donuts in a fancy museum, is not truth and not real art. And some artists choose to speak out against falseness, laziness and pretentiousness in the art industry. And sometimes they risk their own reputation and career by doing so. But in the end, when these artists are gone, they will be remembered for their truth in their work more than anything else. And that honesty is often misunderstood. And that's the beauty of it.

Great film! Very inspiring!

As an artist, I often wonder why do some artists become successful and others not ??? This movie examines the question Basinski was a really talented artist, and this is a fascinating era, I moved to New York to be a part of this scene, and I found it incredibly difficult to gain entrée, but even if you were part of the scene and talented, it didn't guarantee success, and that's the case with this artist, he was very talented and he should've been famous, but it didn't work out for him... Fascinating documentary about a fascinating era New York's history, beautifully done with excellent cameos and lots of videos...

If your still 'Alive' or should I say "Staying Alive" and you need a dose of inspiration to boost your survival rate as an American Artist go see this film!

I couldn't get enough of seeing some of the key art world figure's who became house hold names as we know them today, but there was a time when they too were just like the rest of (The Gang) of the East Village and eventually the Soho Streets became their stomping ground. Which turned Artist's into competitive and spiteful laboratory rats for the Nuevo Rich to manipulate. "It's a true tell story of how nobody knew what was going to work for them on the road to real life success."-KaMo.

This is a fascinating journey, a cautionary tale of sorts into the mind of an obscure artist who came of age in the 70s and 80s. Punk. New expressionism(is that the term?). The pre gentrified east village. Rock and roll. Crack houses. It's all alive here. We feel his desperate need to be discovered, to be respected the story is told through amazing old video footage and in new interviews through the eyes of friends and associates many who have became successful artists (some household names). The movie sprawls (in a good way) as we watch his tragic descent. All this comes at you with a constant montage of late 20th century modern art (by the subjects) woven into the images. And then a mystery must be solved. It's a beautiful film, a strange film, that cradles the viewer as he descends down the east village rabbit hole with the subject. All this with a beautiful score that keeps it all so alive.