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!