Downtown 81

Downtown 81 is a feature film starring the legendary American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) shot in 1981. Basquiat was a 19 year-old painter, graffiti artist, poet and musician. The film, depicts the exciting downtown New York art and music scene of the winter of 1980-81. In 1981, Basquiat had yet to have his first gallery exhibition. The film is a day in the life of a young artist, who draws and paints his famous »SAMO » graffiti and needs to sell a painting to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. Then, he wanders from club to club, looking for the beautiful girl he met earlier, so he’ll have a place to spend the night. Basquiat is a natural actor; his coolness is in contrast to the fictional « Basquiat ». The cast includes Deborah Harry, and bands of the era: Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Coati Mundi, DNA, James White and the Blacks, Tuxedo Moon, Walter Steding. Also heard on the soundtrack: Gray, Basquiat’s band and John Lurie. Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most important artists of the twentieth century as he is poised for frame, but also captures one of the most vital periods in American culture, with the explosion of new wave music, new painting, hip hop and graffiti.