RAGE TO RICHES
The PBS Jean-Michel Basquiat Promo Film
The PBS American Masters series featuring the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat is one-of-a-kind. The episode’s trailer features interviews from faces like Fab Five Freddy and Basquiat’s sister. Edited masterfully, this trailer tells a story of the controversial but phenomenally successful artist as he rose to commercial success and stood alongside Andy Warhol as the greatest artist of a generation. Basquiat’s work arose to prominence on the 60s, taking on a new spirit of black art that pushed boundaries and reinvented culture with its imagination. Basquiat’s work is so successful we still talk about it today.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: Rags to Riches is masterful and available on PBS. The trailer emphasizes the speed at which Basquiat’s name was elevated to excellence in the art world. The trailer is like a film on its own. With superb pacing and music that will make you feel all sorts of things, you will instantly be captivated by its impressive magnitude. It will make you fall in love with the artist all over again.
Showing some of his most famous pieces, “Untitled, 1981,” “Riding With Death,” etc. the show documents the spectrum of his art and life, both at its best and lowest points. Basquiat’s sister says that the best way to see the story of his life is through Basquiat’s art. PBS’s interviewee’s and the documentary’s story stress this. Moreover, the intrigue surrounding Basquiat’s life and legacy make this a perfect documentary to view for current times as there is a revisiting of the life of Basquiat alongside other cultural icons like Warhol.
PBS’s American Masters series studies the profiles of amazing artists like Andy Warhol and Charlie Chaplin. It’s won Emmys for Music Composition and sound design and is produced by Michael Kantor and Susan Lacy. The series is a historical and cultural journey and has a strong following on social media. This Basquiat episode specifically follows the “Rage to Riches” story of the prominent artist who rose to wealth and fame in a time when Black artists weren’t given the same respect as other artists. The trailer is tantalizing and sexy and pulls the viewer’s attention immediately.
