Julian Schnabel
A big-browed and gregarious, self-promoting pop art painter known for his oversized canvasses, Julian Schnabel made the transition to screenwriter and director with "Basquiat" (1996), a biopic based on the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat and Schnabel were friends from about 1981 until the former's death in 1988, and both were also part of the same crowd as Andy Warhol.
Born in Brooklyn, Schnabel moved with his family to west Texas when still young and it was there that he spent most of his formative years. In 1973, he sent an application to the independent study program at the Whitney Museum in NYC, which included slides of his work sandwiched between two pieces of bread. (He was accepted.) Struggling in the art world, Schnabel worked as a short-order cook and hung out at Max's Kansas City, the famed music and comedy club in Greenwich Village, while he worked on his art. In 1979, Mary Boone gave him his first one-person show at her Soho Gallery. As it was the heyday of pop artists in the New York scene, Schnabel found himself in the limelight. His paintings were large--often billboard size--and he reportedly lived his life on a large scale as well, even publishing an autobiography in 1987. Eventually some of Schnabel's works from the early 80s would sell at auction in the 90s for as much as $1 million.
After the death of Basquiat, Schnabel sought to make a film on his friend's life, although Schnabel's own work in film was limited to being interviewed for the 1991 documentary "The Art of Merry-Go-Round", an exploration of the New York art scene of the early 80s. Enlisting such friends as Christopher Walken and David Bowie to play supporting parts and cameos and with Jeffrey Wright in the title role, Schnabel raised $3.3 million to make the film. Reviews were mixed, with the Village Voice declaring the film "naive and clumsy" while Time Out New York called Schnabel's direction "able" and David Denby in New York said the film was "surprisingly affecting."
Schnabel has studios in New York City and in Montauk on the eastern tip of Long Island. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and The Whitney Museum in NYC, MOCA in L.A. and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, among others.