The Brezinski Project

Terrific interviews from colleagues of a tortured artist, looking for fame. Excellent archival footage, colorful eccentrics, and a sharp sense of humor tell a cautionary tale about the desire to be recognized and the dangers of finding self-worth in an era of decadence and degradation. Vincent explores the East Village art scene through the lens and words of the people that lived it. Egos and oils collide in a wonderful score that paces the story well. If you want to see the hardships of being a starving artist, a desperate artist, a brilliant artist- check out this doc. The ghost of Brezinski thanks you...perhaps.

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.

I really did. I couldn't take my eyes off of it for the whole duration, so... great job Brian Vincent, Heather Spore and crew. For fans of Downtown 81, the No Wave (and Punk) scene, Basquiat, Warhol, Slaves of NY, and everything downtown 70's/80's New York, this movie is for you. Of course it was also great to watch it at the Museum of the City of New York showing, where the director, producer, and prominent members of the art scene portrayed in the movie did an informative and super fun Q&A afterward. I found the whole experience inspiring, and the sort of documentary that makes me fall in love with NYC all over again, after all, these are the stories that most of us artists and musicians can relate to... you see, downtown Manhattan may be all fancy and wealthy now, but there are still pockets where such characters exist, maybe somewhere in Brooklyn (or Queens) by now.. OR other cities.. we all have been 20 years old and (some of us at least) crazy.. and had aspirations, big dreams, so yeah.... raise a drink to Edward Brezinski.. Cheers!

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...

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!