EDWARD BREZINSKI (CENTER) IN MAKE ME FAMOUS

The vibrant East Village art scene in the Eighties from the POV of one who didn't make it

Ed Brezinski was a figurative painter in the time of Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat who didn't make it, though he was included in a later MoMA show of expressionism. He also was known for two provocations: he ate a resin-covered donut included in an art show, Robert Gober’s first big exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery in 1989; and he threw a glass of wine in the face of Annina Nosei, the Italian-born New York gallerist who fostered Basquiat's early work by providing him with materials and a place to paint. This little film is of value to students of the art of the period because it captures something of the mood of the most exciting recent time in New York art, from the point of view of the sidelines, where it may appear less clouded by the dazzling lights of international fame.

Brezinski was gay, not bad looking, and dedicated and energetic. He did big, free figurative paintings in a neo-expressionistic style. His former lover as well as numerous people who knew him back in the day describe him as having failed to become known because he lacked a commercial or self-promotional sense. Another deterrent may have been that he was apparently a terrible drunk. A factor they seem to downplay is that though he had a facility, his work was not very distinctive. What about the work would have made him become known? However the specific nature and quality of Brezenski's work, or what distinguished the art of this time, is not something the film goes into detail about. This film's focus, and where it shines, is the mood of the moment, the rich, fertile texture of the East Village scene and the details of Brezenzki's own somewhat turbulent and frustrated life.

In the early eighties the now "bijou" East Village neighborhood was a wasteland of semi-derelict tenements and abandoned storefronts. Brezinski set up shop across the street from a homeless shelter. The area attracted a great number of aspiring artists, some of them to become famous, and including artist duo McDermott & McGough Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Artists set up their own galleries in their apartments and in vacant shops. Brezinski calls his, on East Third street, the "Magic Gallery", which one talking head, Peter McGough, mocks as the stupidest possible name. They exhibited each other’s work aiming to attract the interest of the serious gallerists up in SoHo. "There was no emphasis on making money," the late Duncan Hannah recalls, ‘because no one had any money."

Brezinski eventually moved to Europe, first to Berlin, then to France, fading from view. In 2007 his friends learned that he had died in the south of France. At this point they no longer knew what he was doing. Representatives from this film go over to track him down, having not previously learned the details of his demise. At one point they even suspect he may have faked his own death - perhaps his most accomplished work of art, and in the conceptual vein that was more fashionable when he was painting figures.

For some reason the film has been delayed and is being released in this country now, starting on the East and West Coasts. It's a worthwhile watch for any students of the art of the last fifty years; specifically, of the art of the early eighties in New York. This was the most exciting time in recent American art, and where Edward Brezinski was is where it was happening, more or less, even if it was not happening to him.

But even Brezinski's cousin wonders why this film was being made, since it's not about anybody important. Digby Ward-Aldam, whose review in Apollo, for the film's English release, is juicier and more critical than this one, notes the slapdash quality of this somewhat inexplicable film and wonders if it was consciously trying to evoke "the amateurishness of the East Village set." Whether or not, it does; and that is its appeal for the devotee of the period. This is the kind of story that might be put into a novel. It's unusual for a documentary film to be made out of it.

You might also like to take a look at the six-part "Andy Warhol Diaries" miniseries on Netflix. This is a deep dive into Warhol's life, and thus into a world that was central to the art of the seventies and eighties.

Make Me Famous is freely illustrated with stills and film footage from the period, and some of the famous artists of the time still alive, including Kenny Scharf, Marcus Leatherdale, Mark Kostabi and Julian Schnabel, peep in with friendly comments.

Theatrical Openings - w/ Live Q&As:

June 22nd, 2023 - NYC (The Roxy, New Plaza Cinema)
June 26th - NYC (Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan)
July 10th - LA (Laemmle Theaters - Claremont, Glendale, Monica)
October 15, 2023 - Roxie Theater in San Francisco (Q&A with filmmakers)
October 17 - November 3 2023 - 4 Star Theater in San Francisco

Featuring: Edward Brezinski, Duncan Hannah, Peter McGough, James Romberger, Marguerite Van Cook, David McDermott, Eric Bogosian, Richard Hambleton, Marcus Leatherdale, Patti Astor, Kenny Scharf, Annina Nosei, Claudia Summers, Walter Robinson
Directed and Edited by: Brian Vincent
Produced by: Heather Spore, Brian Vincent
Original Music Composed by: Jeremiah Bornfield
Cinematography by: Eugene McVeigh, Jim C.

Featuring Art by: Edward Brezinski, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Diebenkorn, Philip Guston, Richard Hambleton, Duncan Hannah, Keith Haring, Mark Kostabi, David McDermott, Peter McGough, Walter Robinson, James Romberger, Kenny Scharf, Julian Schnabel, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz

Featuring Photography by: Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, Andreas Sterzing, Katherine Dumas, Marcus Leatherdale, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Josef Astor, Ben Buchanan, Allen Frame, Tseng Kwong Chi

Runtime: 93 minutes
Country: US
Language: English
Genre: Documentary

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.