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Widow Basquiat: A Love Story
The beautifully written, deeply affecting story of Jean-Michel Basquiat's partner, her past, and their life together
An NPR Best Book of the Year Selection
New York City in the 1980s was a mesmerizing, wild place. A hotbed for hip hop, underground culture, and unmatched creative energy, it spawned some of the most significant art of the 20th century. It was where Jean-Michel Basquiat became an avant-garde street artist and painter, swiftly achieving worldwide fame. During the years before his death at the age of 27, he shared his life with his lover and muse, Suzanne Mallouk.
A runaway from an unhappy home in Canada, Suzanne first met Jean-Michel in a bar on the Lower East Side in 1980. Thus began a tumultuous and passionate relationship that deeply influenced one of the most exceptional artists of our time.
In emotionally resonant prose, award-winning author Jennifer Clement tells the story of the passion that swept Suzanne and Jean-Michel into a short-lived, unforgettable affair. A poetic interpretation like no other, Widow Basquiat is an expression of the unrelenting power of addiction, obsession and love.
An NPR Best Book of the Year Selection
New York City in the 1980s was a mesmerizing, wild place. A hotbed for hip hop, underground culture, and unmatched creative energy, it spawned some of the most significant art of the 20th century. It was where Jean-Michel Basquiat became an avant-garde street artist and painter, swiftly achieving worldwide fame. During the years before his death at the age of 27, he shared his life with his lover and muse, Suzanne Mallouk.
A runaway from an unhappy home in Canada, Suzanne first met Jean-Michel in a bar on the Lower East Side in 1980. Thus began a tumultuous and passionate relationship that deeply influenced one of the most exceptional artists of our time.
In emotionally resonant prose, award-winning author Jennifer Clement tells the story of the passion that swept Suzanne and Jean-Michel into a short-lived, unforgettable affair. A poetic interpretation like no other, Widow Basquiat is an expression of the unrelenting power of addiction, obsession and love.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Jennifer Clement
23 books452 followersJennifer Clement is President Emerita of the human rights and freedom of expression organization PEN International and the only woman to hold the office of President (2015-2021) since the organization was founded in 1921. Under her leadership, the groundbreaking PEN International Women’s Manifesto and The Democracy of the Imagination Manifesto were created. As President of PEN Mexico (2009-2012), Clement was instrumental in changing the law to make the crime of killing a journalist a federal crime.
Clement is author of the novels A True Story Based on Lies, The Poison That Fascinates, Prayers for the Stolen, Gun Love and Stormy People as well as several poetry books including Poems and Errors, published by Kaunitz-Olsson in Sweden. Clement also wrote the acclaimed memoir Widow Basquiat on New York City in the early 1980’s and the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, which NPR named best book of 2015 in seven different categories. Her memoir The Promised Party will be published in early 2024. Clement’s books have been translated into 38 languages and have covered topics such as the stealing of little girls in Mexico, the effects of gun violence and trafficking of guns into Mexico and Central America as well as writing about her life in the art worlds of Mexico and New York.
Clement is the recipient of Guggenheim, NEA, MacDowell and Santa Maddalena Fellowships and her books have twice been a New York Times Editor’s Choice Book. Prayers for the Stolen was the recipient of the Grand Prix des Lectrices Lyceenes de ELLE(sponsored by ELLE Magazine, the French Ministry of Education and the Maison des écrivains et de la littérature) and a New Statesman Book of the Year, picked by the Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Gun Love was an Oprah Book Club Selection as well as being a National Book Award and Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist. Time magazine, among other publications, named it one of the top 10 books of 2018. At NYU she was the commencement speaker for the Gallatin graduates of 2017 and she gave the Lectio Magistralis in Florence, Italy for the Premio Gregor von Rezzori. Clement is a member of Mexico’s prestigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.
For Clement’s work in human rights, she was awarded the HIP Award for contribution to Latino Communities by the Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) Organization as well as being the recipient of the Sara Curry Humanitarian Award. Most recently, she was given the 2023 Freedom of Expression Honorary title on the occasion of World Press Day by Brussels University Alliance VUB and ULB in partnership with the European Commission, European Endowment for Democracy and UNESCO among others. Other laureates include Svetlana Alexievich, Zhang Zhan, Ahmet Altan, Daphne Caruana Galizia and Raif Badawi, among others.
Jennifer Clement was raised in Mexico where she lives. She and her sister Barbara Sibley founded and direct the San Miguel Poetry Week. Clement has a double major in anthropology and English Literature from New York University (Gallatin) and an MFA from University of Southern Maine (Stonecoast). She was named a Distinguished Alumna by the Kingswood Cranbrook School.
Clement is author of the novels A True Story Based on Lies, The Poison That Fascinates, Prayers for the Stolen, Gun Love and Stormy People as well as several poetry books including Poems and Errors, published by Kaunitz-Olsson in Sweden. Clement also wrote the acclaimed memoir Widow Basquiat on New York City in the early 1980’s and the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, which NPR named best book of 2015 in seven different categories. Her memoir The Promised Party will be published in early 2024. Clement’s books have been translated into 38 languages and have covered topics such as the stealing of little girls in Mexico, the effects of gun violence and trafficking of guns into Mexico and Central America as well as writing about her life in the art worlds of Mexico and New York.
Clement is the recipient of Guggenheim, NEA, MacDowell and Santa Maddalena Fellowships and her books have twice been a New York Times Editor’s Choice Book. Prayers for the Stolen was the recipient of the Grand Prix des Lectrices Lyceenes de ELLE(sponsored by ELLE Magazine, the French Ministry of Education and the Maison des écrivains et de la littérature) and a New Statesman Book of the Year, picked by the Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Gun Love was an Oprah Book Club Selection as well as being a National Book Award and Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist. Time magazine, among other publications, named it one of the top 10 books of 2018. At NYU she was the commencement speaker for the Gallatin graduates of 2017 and she gave the Lectio Magistralis in Florence, Italy for the Premio Gregor von Rezzori. Clement is a member of Mexico’s prestigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.
For Clement’s work in human rights, she was awarded the HIP Award for contribution to Latino Communities by the Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) Organization as well as being the recipient of the Sara Curry Humanitarian Award. Most recently, she was given the 2023 Freedom of Expression Honorary title on the occasion of World Press Day by Brussels University Alliance VUB and ULB in partnership with the European Commission, European Endowment for Democracy and UNESCO among others. Other laureates include Svetlana Alexievich, Zhang Zhan, Ahmet Altan, Daphne Caruana Galizia and Raif Badawi, among others.
Jennifer Clement was raised in Mexico where she lives. She and her sister Barbara Sibley founded and direct the San Miguel Poetry Week. Clement has a double major in anthropology and English Literature from New York University (Gallatin) and an MFA from University of Southern Maine (Stonecoast). She was named a Distinguished Alumna by the Kingswood Cranbrook School.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 562 reviews
December 13, 2017
Artists' biographies are usually some of the most boring books you will ever read. I know this, having spent three years powering through them at university. The artist is born, usually into a wealthy family, and they then go to an art college or an academy where they learn nothing and develop their own style as a rejection to everything they have been taught. Then they become famous and die. There it is - every artists' biography ever.
Jennifer Clement rejects this formula. Instead of writing a straightforward biography of her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, she writes about the woman who was constantly at his side - Suzanne Mallouk. Widow Basquiat is a fiery journey through the 1980s New York art scene. It is the story of Suzanne's life, but also, of course, the life of Basquiat. It moves along at a blistering pace as we switch between Clement's narrative and Mallouk's first-hand accounts.
The most refreshing aspect of Widow Basquiat was its effort to not become hagiographic. Clement and Mallouk never once place Basquiat on a high pedestal. He was a controlling and unstable drug addict. He treated his closest friends awfully. He gave Mallouk P.I.D. which caused her to become sterile for life. But he was also a genius who had the art market in his hands. He was insecure and always thought about his image. The flamboyant Basquiat is also shown, how he would wear Armani suits when he painted and then would throw them away and his insistence, in his final years, to travel everywhere by limousine.
Mallouk puts up with all of these quirks and in the end Widow Basquiat becomes an intimate but riotous portrayal of a turbulent relationship. It is one of the most well-constructed and enjoyable artists' biographies that I have ever read. As mesmerising and complex as any of Basquiat's works.
Jennifer Clement rejects this formula. Instead of writing a straightforward biography of her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, she writes about the woman who was constantly at his side - Suzanne Mallouk. Widow Basquiat is a fiery journey through the 1980s New York art scene. It is the story of Suzanne's life, but also, of course, the life of Basquiat. It moves along at a blistering pace as we switch between Clement's narrative and Mallouk's first-hand accounts.
The most refreshing aspect of Widow Basquiat was its effort to not become hagiographic. Clement and Mallouk never once place Basquiat on a high pedestal. He was a controlling and unstable drug addict. He treated his closest friends awfully. He gave Mallouk P.I.D. which caused her to become sterile for life. But he was also a genius who had the art market in his hands. He was insecure and always thought about his image. The flamboyant Basquiat is also shown, how he would wear Armani suits when he painted and then would throw them away and his insistence, in his final years, to travel everywhere by limousine.
Mallouk puts up with all of these quirks and in the end Widow Basquiat becomes an intimate but riotous portrayal of a turbulent relationship. It is one of the most well-constructed and enjoyable artists' biographies that I have ever read. As mesmerising and complex as any of Basquiat's works.
April 4, 2016
"He smells of leather, oil paint, tobacco, marijuana and the faint metallic smell of cocaine. He wears handmade wool sweaters and long Mexican ponchos. He never walks in a straight line. He zigzags wherever he is going."- Jennifer Clement, Widow Basquiat
The 1980s in New York were some interesting times, and Basquiat had maybe one of the most colourful lives I've ever read about: shopping with Madonna, hanging out with Gene Kelly and Andy Warhol, selling paintings to Debbie Harry."Widow Basquiat" is a very unconventional love story, then again Basquiat, from what I've learned about him, epitomized unconventionality.
The "widow" in this case is Basquiat's great love, Suzanne Mallouk, and the book goes into the strange, unique, often abusive relationship they had. Suzanne seems to have been Basquiat's muse and perhaps one of the few people who got closest to really knowing him. We get a sense of who Basquiat was through his "widow's" short reminiscent vignettes.
I guess from my vantage point where I'm exposed to black art and have some knowledge of black artists, it might be easy to forget that black artists were rarely accepted in the mainstream, very white, art world not so long ago (and there are obviously still structural barriers). One line regarding representation said by Basquiat himself really spoke to me: "This is why I paint," he says."To get black men into museums." A lot of this book goes into the issues Basquiat experienced with racism in the art world. There is talk on the double standards of white versus black artists, for example:
"He is furious because people are writing about his ghetto childhood and call him a 'graffiti artist' and 'primitive.' "They don't event a childhood for white artists," he says."
I could see his internal struggle: on one hand he was trying to make black art mainstream and respected, on another hand not wanting to accept labels. But he always remembered his past and his influences.
"His paintings were inspired by the jazz musicians and he felt akin to them. A lot of the early jazz artists, of course, couldn't even walk through the front door of the hotels and clubs they were playing in and had to enter through back doors and kitchens, and I think Jean felt this was a metaphor for his place in the white art world: he had entered through the back door. He broke into the white art world in a way that had never been done before by a black."
This is a very intense book, it really is. I'm not used to reading books that are very heavy on drug content and self-destruction, and despite already knowing the outcome to Basquiat's story it was really a tough story to wrap one's head around. My heart especially went out to Suzanne and what she was forced to go through.
What I got from this book is what I already knew and then some; Basquiat was a multifaceted, complex spirit. This book didn't try to make excuses for him, it just stated the facts. Definitely a must-read for any Basquiat fans.
Here's a link to the documentary: The Radiant Child https://vimeo.com/112151228
The 1980s in New York were some interesting times, and Basquiat had maybe one of the most colourful lives I've ever read about: shopping with Madonna, hanging out with Gene Kelly and Andy Warhol, selling paintings to Debbie Harry."Widow Basquiat" is a very unconventional love story, then again Basquiat, from what I've learned about him, epitomized unconventionality.
The "widow" in this case is Basquiat's great love, Suzanne Mallouk, and the book goes into the strange, unique, often abusive relationship they had. Suzanne seems to have been Basquiat's muse and perhaps one of the few people who got closest to really knowing him. We get a sense of who Basquiat was through his "widow's" short reminiscent vignettes.
I guess from my vantage point where I'm exposed to black art and have some knowledge of black artists, it might be easy to forget that black artists were rarely accepted in the mainstream, very white, art world not so long ago (and there are obviously still structural barriers). One line regarding representation said by Basquiat himself really spoke to me: "This is why I paint," he says."To get black men into museums." A lot of this book goes into the issues Basquiat experienced with racism in the art world. There is talk on the double standards of white versus black artists, for example:
"He is furious because people are writing about his ghetto childhood and call him a 'graffiti artist' and 'primitive.' "They don't event a childhood for white artists," he says."
I could see his internal struggle: on one hand he was trying to make black art mainstream and respected, on another hand not wanting to accept labels. But he always remembered his past and his influences.
"His paintings were inspired by the jazz musicians and he felt akin to them. A lot of the early jazz artists, of course, couldn't even walk through the front door of the hotels and clubs they were playing in and had to enter through back doors and kitchens, and I think Jean felt this was a metaphor for his place in the white art world: he had entered through the back door. He broke into the white art world in a way that had never been done before by a black."
This is a very intense book, it really is. I'm not used to reading books that are very heavy on drug content and self-destruction, and despite already knowing the outcome to Basquiat's story it was really a tough story to wrap one's head around. My heart especially went out to Suzanne and what she was forced to go through.
What I got from this book is what I already knew and then some; Basquiat was a multifaceted, complex spirit. This book didn't try to make excuses for him, it just stated the facts. Definitely a must-read for any Basquiat fans.
Here's a link to the documentary: The Radiant Child https://vimeo.com/112151228
September 30, 2016
Wow, this book totally blew me away.
At the young age of 15 Suzanne Mallouk left her family and home in Canada for the bright lights and gritty streets of NYC. It wasn't long before she became lover and muse to the wonderfully talented Jean-Michel Basquiat who was on the verge of blowing the art world away. Their turbulent, passionate and ultimately doomed love affair was on-again, off-again for the next 8 years, from his rise to art world acclaim and deep into his downward spiral with drugs and depression.
Apart from her relationship to Basquiat, Mallouk's own story is one worthy of being read. With heartbreaking honesty, she shares with us both her own personal demons as well as intimate moments spent with Basquiat, the good, the bad, and indeed the ugly.
Shifting back and forth between Jennifer Clement's stunningly beautiful prose and Suzanne Mallouk's own words, I felt the real world drift further and further away with each page I devoured until I was fully immersed into 1980's NYC.
Such glorious, lyrical storytelling I haven't experienced since reading Patti Smith's Just Kids. A must read for anyone interested in 1980's New York, the art world, or those who just love gorgeous prose.
At the young age of 15 Suzanne Mallouk left her family and home in Canada for the bright lights and gritty streets of NYC. It wasn't long before she became lover and muse to the wonderfully talented Jean-Michel Basquiat who was on the verge of blowing the art world away. Their turbulent, passionate and ultimately doomed love affair was on-again, off-again for the next 8 years, from his rise to art world acclaim and deep into his downward spiral with drugs and depression.
Apart from her relationship to Basquiat, Mallouk's own story is one worthy of being read. With heartbreaking honesty, she shares with us both her own personal demons as well as intimate moments spent with Basquiat, the good, the bad, and indeed the ugly.
Shifting back and forth between Jennifer Clement's stunningly beautiful prose and Suzanne Mallouk's own words, I felt the real world drift further and further away with each page I devoured until I was fully immersed into 1980's NYC.
Such glorious, lyrical storytelling I haven't experienced since reading Patti Smith's Just Kids. A must read for anyone interested in 1980's New York, the art world, or those who just love gorgeous prose.
February 23, 2024
Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of those artists who tend to vanish behind their own larger-than-life myth: The free-spirited, flamboyant genius who lived fast and died young. Jennifer Clement works against this distorting narrative, and she knows what she's talking about: Not only did she know Basquiat, his girlfriend Suzanne Mallouk has been a friend of hers.
Basquiat's "Self-Portrait with Suzanne" (1982)
"Widow Basquiat" is a mixture of longer quotes taken from interviews Clement conducted with Mallouk and episodes written in the third person that the author renders in her typical poetic style. The result is a very moving text that portrays the complex relationship between Mallouk and Basquiat and thus allows glimpses into the contradictory character that was Jean-Michel Basquiat. We meet two people who deeply love each other, but who are also two junkies in a toxic relationship - and the whole story unfolds during Basquiat's steep rise to the very top of the international art scene and lasts in all its glorious (and often not-so-glorious) turbulence until his death of a heroin overdose in 1988.
In many flashlights and vignettes, Clement focuses on aspects of Basquiat's character and his relationship with Suzanne: The first person to buy a Basquiat was Debbie Harry, later he dated Madonna (nevermind he had a girlfriend). He was friends with Andy Warhol (Basquiat painted himself with Warhol in his famous piece "Dos Cabezas") and with Keith Haring. He loved to go clubbing and went on drug binges for days. He could be deeply affectionate and caring, and then malicious and mischevous. He had a fluid sexuality and was always promiscuous. Basquiat loved the attention and also the money, especially because he had done the seemingly impossible: He was a black man whose work was admired in the white art world. Behind all the fame and glamour, he was an artist facing racism, trying to be free and trying to change the world, at least a little.
Basquiat, who during his childhood in Brooklyn frequently visited art exhibitions with his mother, said that he became a painter because he wanted to see works of black artists displayed in galleries and museums. In the predominatly white cosmos of institutionalized and monetized art, he frequently encountered racism - and of course not only there, but in America as a whole. Clement's book mentions several instances and also talks about the death of Basquiat's fellow black artist Michael Stewart who became a victim of police brutality - an incident that drove Basquiat to paint his most political piece, "Defacement". But that's not his only picture giving social and historical commentary - just think of paintings like "Slave Auction" or "Obnoxious Liberals", for instance. Still, until today, some critics call his style "primitivism", a term used to discredit a black voice in art.
To describe Suzanne Mallouk's on/off relationship with Basquiat as rocky would be an understatement: The two clashed frequently (we're talking flying tv sets and major insults), and at one point, Basquiat apparently told her that he appreciated that she was the only one who didn't tell him to stop doing drugs - go figure. Today, Dr. Suzanne Mallouk works as a psychiatrist in New York, specializing in the treatment of substance abuse, and the late Basquiat has become one of the biggest cultural icons in the world.
And he continues to inspire other artists: Not only did jazz musician Jon Batiste (Stephen Colbert's band leader) recently release an album entitled "Hollywood Africans" after Basquiat's painting of the same name, Batiste is also working on a Broadway musical based on Basquiat's life - the painter was a major jazz fan who often worked to music.
It seems like the definitive biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat has yet to be written, but Clement's "love story" (which in other editions is subtitled "a memoir") is a fascinating, beautifully written book that offers many interesting insights.
Basquiat's "Self-Portrait with Suzanne" (1982)
"Widow Basquiat" is a mixture of longer quotes taken from interviews Clement conducted with Mallouk and episodes written in the third person that the author renders in her typical poetic style. The result is a very moving text that portrays the complex relationship between Mallouk and Basquiat and thus allows glimpses into the contradictory character that was Jean-Michel Basquiat. We meet two people who deeply love each other, but who are also two junkies in a toxic relationship - and the whole story unfolds during Basquiat's steep rise to the very top of the international art scene and lasts in all its glorious (and often not-so-glorious) turbulence until his death of a heroin overdose in 1988.
In many flashlights and vignettes, Clement focuses on aspects of Basquiat's character and his relationship with Suzanne: The first person to buy a Basquiat was Debbie Harry, later he dated Madonna (nevermind he had a girlfriend). He was friends with Andy Warhol (Basquiat painted himself with Warhol in his famous piece "Dos Cabezas") and with Keith Haring. He loved to go clubbing and went on drug binges for days. He could be deeply affectionate and caring, and then malicious and mischevous. He had a fluid sexuality and was always promiscuous. Basquiat loved the attention and also the money, especially because he had done the seemingly impossible: He was a black man whose work was admired in the white art world. Behind all the fame and glamour, he was an artist facing racism, trying to be free and trying to change the world, at least a little.
Basquiat, who during his childhood in Brooklyn frequently visited art exhibitions with his mother, said that he became a painter because he wanted to see works of black artists displayed in galleries and museums. In the predominatly white cosmos of institutionalized and monetized art, he frequently encountered racism - and of course not only there, but in America as a whole. Clement's book mentions several instances and also talks about the death of Basquiat's fellow black artist Michael Stewart who became a victim of police brutality - an incident that drove Basquiat to paint his most political piece, "Defacement". But that's not his only picture giving social and historical commentary - just think of paintings like "Slave Auction" or "Obnoxious Liberals", for instance. Still, until today, some critics call his style "primitivism", a term used to discredit a black voice in art.
To describe Suzanne Mallouk's on/off relationship with Basquiat as rocky would be an understatement: The two clashed frequently (we're talking flying tv sets and major insults), and at one point, Basquiat apparently told her that he appreciated that she was the only one who didn't tell him to stop doing drugs - go figure. Today, Dr. Suzanne Mallouk works as a psychiatrist in New York, specializing in the treatment of substance abuse, and the late Basquiat has become one of the biggest cultural icons in the world.
And he continues to inspire other artists: Not only did jazz musician Jon Batiste (Stephen Colbert's band leader) recently release an album entitled "Hollywood Africans" after Basquiat's painting of the same name, Batiste is also working on a Broadway musical based on Basquiat's life - the painter was a major jazz fan who often worked to music.
It seems like the definitive biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat has yet to be written, but Clement's "love story" (which in other editions is subtitled "a memoir") is a fascinating, beautifully written book that offers many interesting insights.
November 17, 2014
I love this book. It is a poem. It is about strength. It is about feminism. It is about marketing. It is about politics. It is about childhood. And yes, it's about an iconic artist and one of his lovers but it's really about so much more if you choose to dig deep and see it. This is not for everyone. Some readers who like a straightforward narrative will most likely be discouraged with the mixed voices in this fictional biography/memoir of Basquiat and Suzanne Mallouk. But I think Clement captures the voices with an authenticity and care that may be only attributed to her personal ties to Suzanne Mallouk, the fictional widow. Living a drug and sex -fuelled life of chaos in the New York and International art scene, the colorful characters come to life while we see the reality of AIDS and overdoses and other STDs at the edges of the frenetic lifestyles. Jennifer Clement exposes the vulnerability of such large personalities without making them caricatures and you can see beauty in the tragedy. I think of a flower growing out of a crack in a dirty and dilapidated sidewalk. I finished it and just wanted to read it again.
Provided by Publisher
Provided by Publisher
July 18, 2020
An intense, subjective look at a relationship that is toxic yet binding as Suzanne is drawn into the charismatic orbit of Jean-Michel Basquiat against a background of the febrile 1980s New York art scene.
High on drugs, radically creative, Basquiat sees art as activism, driven by his early realisation that there were no Black male artists in museums (and how telling that it's only now, forty years later, in the wake of Black Lives Matter, that this has become a public conversation with curators speaking out on this institutional bias and consciously looking to do better).
This isn't an analysis of the art confining itself to the push-pull relationship between Suzanne and Jean: the cruelty, the rows, the infidelities, the way love can turn maternal on her side, the final kind consideration on his before his untimely death from overdose at just 27.
Clement knew them both and writes with a kind of burning power, switching between a 3rd person narrative with the weaving in of Suzanne's voice (from interviews?).
I listened to the audio book and the narrator's voice suits the narrative perfectly.
A short book but powerful and intimate, and surprisingly politicised in a welcome way.
High on drugs, radically creative, Basquiat sees art as activism, driven by his early realisation that there were no Black male artists in museums (and how telling that it's only now, forty years later, in the wake of Black Lives Matter, that this has become a public conversation with curators speaking out on this institutional bias and consciously looking to do better).
This isn't an analysis of the art confining itself to the push-pull relationship between Suzanne and Jean: the cruelty, the rows, the infidelities, the way love can turn maternal on her side, the final kind consideration on his before his untimely death from overdose at just 27.
Clement knew them both and writes with a kind of burning power, switching between a 3rd person narrative with the weaving in of Suzanne's voice (from interviews?).
I listened to the audio book and the narrator's voice suits the narrative perfectly.
A short book but powerful and intimate, and surprisingly politicised in a welcome way.
January 5, 2009
I'm always suspicious of biographies of artists. Where films are concerned, there's the inevitable shaky camera scene (when the artist begins to seriously lose it or ups the ante on his coke habit). And regardless of the medium, while mainstream auteurs tend to excuse the subject's deplorable personality for the sake of the opus, there's a far more widespread and disturbing habit of conflating one's understanding the life with an understanding of the work's function or relevance and you wind up with what I'll politely describe as a warped and insular critical feedback loop. In other words, garbage based on the story of ____.
I'd like to argue that this book performs a careful and thoughtful dance between a personality, a relationship and the shockwaves of celebrity without indulging in a moral judgement. It's a thoroughly satisfying quick read. Clement pairs her beautiful, brutal third-person narrative with Suzanne's first-hand account of her time as Basquiat's lover and chopped liver. The poetry is as much in Clement's writing as it is in the contrast between the author's interpretation and her subject's reflections.
For extra credit, read this before watching Julian Schnabel's film "Basquiat".
I'd like to argue that this book performs a careful and thoughtful dance between a personality, a relationship and the shockwaves of celebrity without indulging in a moral judgement. It's a thoroughly satisfying quick read. Clement pairs her beautiful, brutal third-person narrative with Suzanne's first-hand account of her time as Basquiat's lover and chopped liver. The poetry is as much in Clement's writing as it is in the contrast between the author's interpretation and her subject's reflections.
For extra credit, read this before watching Julian Schnabel's film "Basquiat".
January 24, 2019
I wasn't that familiar with Jean-Michel Basquiat and his art, other than hearing his name mentioned in other non-fiction books set around the same time period that he lived and worked. The 60's-80's NYC art scene was the perfect setting for artist memoirs. But this memoir isn't really his story, but the story of his muse Suzanne Mallouk instead.
This particular memoir is interesting in the way it's constructed - partly told through Mallouk's own words and partly told through Jennifer Clement's prose. It was clear who was speaking by the use of differing fonts, which was something that I welcomed, and the chapters are short and punchy, snapshots into Mallouk's life growing up, moving to NYC, meeting Jean-Michel, and the aftermath of his death by heroin overdose.
The memoir doesn't quite have the same depth as other memoirs of its ilk (e.g. Just Kids), as we are always somewhat removed from Mallouk. This is not real time, more of a glimpse through a window at her - we can look but can't connect. However, it still worked for me, and I can see myself coming back to this, potentially reading it in one setting to fully immerse myself in that NYC art world. Recommended if you like reading accounts of creatives, even if you're not necessarily into art.
This particular memoir is interesting in the way it's constructed - partly told through Mallouk's own words and partly told through Jennifer Clement's prose. It was clear who was speaking by the use of differing fonts, which was something that I welcomed, and the chapters are short and punchy, snapshots into Mallouk's life growing up, moving to NYC, meeting Jean-Michel, and the aftermath of his death by heroin overdose.
The memoir doesn't quite have the same depth as other memoirs of its ilk (e.g. Just Kids), as we are always somewhat removed from Mallouk. This is not real time, more of a glimpse through a window at her - we can look but can't connect. However, it still worked for me, and I can see myself coming back to this, potentially reading it in one setting to fully immerse myself in that NYC art world. Recommended if you like reading accounts of creatives, even if you're not necessarily into art.
January 13, 2023
Muhtemelen Basquiat sanatı severler için oldukça değerli bir eser fakat kendi adıma belki de konuya yüzeysel kaldığım için toksiklikten boğulduğum haliyle çok etkilenmediğim bir okuma oldu. Çalkantılı kitaplar beni boğmaz derseniz, dönem koşulları falan göz önünde bulundurulunca farklı bir bakış açısı için elbette okumaya değer bir kitap ama ille de okuyun demeyeceğim. Yalan yok Goodreads puanını görünce ister istemez beklenti içine girmiştim biraz bu beklenti altında ezildim sanırım, sağlık olsun.
November 13, 2014
I wish more biographies were written as poetically as this! You totally get the Jennifer Clement style in this biography -- but it totally works with the ups and downs of the affair between Basquiat and Mallouk.
October 30, 2022
Ben kurmaca ya da değil toksik ilişki okumaktan hiç hoşlanmıyorum bunu bir kez daha anladım. Döneminin ruhunu yansıtıyor olsa da uyuşturucu, sanat ve ilişkilerle dolu bu eseri okumasam da olurdu diye düşünüyorum. İlgilisinin özellikle de Jean-Michel Basquiat hayranlarının hoşuna gidebilir. Ben keyif almadım bilakis bu toksik ilişki içimi sıktı.
September 21, 2022
The format of short, 1-3 page topics with the interviewer’s text and the (widow) Suzanne Mallouk’s own words in italics works for the content. Like a poem, it gives an impressionist portrait of the life of the artist and the soon to be “widow” in the 1980’s NYC art world.
The content is disturbing. Suzanne’s abusive father set the stage for her abusive lover. Her life with Basquiat is a story of physical and emotional abuse. She recounts this without anger or rancor. One of many examples is that the PID he gave her left her unable to have children - for which she is glad she never told him since it would make him sad. She obviously has had some good therapy to come out on the other side of this and everything else she endured
There are expensive wines and uneaten dinners; parties with celebrities, Basquiat’s $30,000-$40,000 checks and Armani suits cast off with one wearing. Then there is Suzanne’s bar tending tips, a refrigerator sold to pay the rent, dirty hangouts and people described as gaunt due to heroin.
There is a cameo for Keith Haring who paved the way for street art and with it a space for Black artists for which Basquiat is the first. There are other cameos for Andy Warhol and Julian Schnabel who only embraced him once he was famous.
Suzanne shows spunk being able to fend for herself, mount a gallery show and record, perform and tour. Most amazing is the Michael Stewart campaign which she launched like a professional.
Basquiat fans, be prepared. It is hard to excuse the many examples of his selfcenteredness, the waste of everything from food to Armani suits and his nasty treatment of people who cared for him.
This is a difficult story to tell. Conventional formats could leave it cold or whiny. The conversational yet poetic presentation is a good way, and perhaps the only way, to tell this bleak story. Kudos to the Jennifer Clement for developing this presentation. If you are interested in the mainstreaming of street art, while this is a bitter pill, you will want to read this book.
The content is disturbing. Suzanne’s abusive father set the stage for her abusive lover. Her life with Basquiat is a story of physical and emotional abuse. She recounts this without anger or rancor. One of many examples is that the PID he gave her left her unable to have children - for which she is glad she never told him since it would make him sad. She obviously has had some good therapy to come out on the other side of this and everything else she endured
There are expensive wines and uneaten dinners; parties with celebrities, Basquiat’s $30,000-$40,000 checks and Armani suits cast off with one wearing. Then there is Suzanne’s bar tending tips, a refrigerator sold to pay the rent, dirty hangouts and people described as gaunt due to heroin.
There is a cameo for Keith Haring who paved the way for street art and with it a space for Black artists for which Basquiat is the first. There are other cameos for Andy Warhol and Julian Schnabel who only embraced him once he was famous.
Suzanne shows spunk being able to fend for herself, mount a gallery show and record, perform and tour. Most amazing is the Michael Stewart campaign which she launched like a professional.
Basquiat fans, be prepared. It is hard to excuse the many examples of his selfcenteredness, the waste of everything from food to Armani suits and his nasty treatment of people who cared for him.
This is a difficult story to tell. Conventional formats could leave it cold or whiny. The conversational yet poetic presentation is a good way, and perhaps the only way, to tell this bleak story. Kudos to the Jennifer Clement for developing this presentation. If you are interested in the mainstreaming of street art, while this is a bitter pill, you will want to read this book.
February 7, 2016
"Widow Basquiat was a morbid nickname, given to me by Rene Ricard, many years before Jean-Michel died."
When Suzanne Malouk was 15 she left her home in Canada and came to New York. That's where she met Jean-Michel Basquiat and where they fell in love.
Jennifer Clement tells the story of their doomed, drug-fueled, on-again, off-again relationship in a series of short vignettes written almost like prose poems, and often sharing the page with Suzannes own recollections in italics.
"Let me tell you, everybody gets ruined by something - even if you're a queen in a castle - something's gonna say, you're mine"
Like Just Kids it manages to be both an intimate portrait of two young, flawed and talented people and the love they have for each other, and a snapshot of a lost New York: the underground scene of the 1980's.
While it looks to the past with plenty of nostalgia, it never romanticizes. Clement is brutal in her descriptions of abuse, addiction, self-destruction and racism. Learning about the death of Michael Stewart broke my heart. It hurts to read about, and it should hurt.
"What most people don't understand about Jean-Michel is that his crazy behavior had nothing to do with being an enfant terrible. Everything he did was an attack on racism and I loved him for that."
I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking about this book and these people for a long, long time.
September 25, 2023
I loved every second of this reading experience. It was PERFECT.
October 14, 2022
Jennifer Clement's short snippets of memory through a poetic lens makes for a sublime read. She lovingly wraps her words around Suzanne. Protecting her. Loving her. This was a book not just about about the relationship between Suzanne and Jean Michel. This was an homage to that deep and furtive friendship that is rare among women. That cosmic connection when you find that friend who shares the same brain. The same heart.
I have always loved Basquiat's work. Glamorized his life and time in NYC. Knew he was barbaric to his women. To Suzanne.
Jennifer Clement bore witness to the glorious, grimy utopia of the 70's and early 80's created from nothing, spitting out geniuses.
How far we have fallen.
I have always loved Basquiat's work. Glamorized his life and time in NYC. Knew he was barbaric to his women. To Suzanne.
Jennifer Clement bore witness to the glorious, grimy utopia of the 70's and early 80's created from nothing, spitting out geniuses.
How far we have fallen.
June 11, 2016
An account of Suzanne Mallouk's relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat as told by Mallouk's friend Jennifer Clement. I didn't care for the spoken word poetry-like narratives, and found Mallouk's recollections in her own words (in italics throughout) to be the strongest aspects of the book. Famous male artists so often have a woman in the background inspiring and supporting them, a "muse," and I am glad that Clement took the time to put Mallouk's story down and make it part of the historical record, even if the format is a bit unconventional.
April 5, 2019
I bought this yesterday in the gift shop of the gallery where I saw a Basquiat exhibit. This book is so f---ing good. A memoir that reads like a novel that told me everything I wanted to know about the man behind the paintings. Now I can see them, the boxers and all of the crazy words and the portraits and they mean something new. I had never even heard of Suzanne.
September 13, 2020
The rare book I want to read again immediately upon finishing.
October 5, 2023
Jennifer Clement, Basquiat ve Suzanne’in arkadaşı ve romanda kısa da olsa görünüyor. Gözlemleri ve Suzanne’in yazdığı anılar birlikte ilerliyor. Bu anlatım biçimi çok akıcı ama yeterince etkileyici değil. Anlattığı insanlara çok uyan bir yöntem öte yandan. Basquiat bir efsane. Dünyaca tanınan ve 27 yaşında vefat eden siyahi ressamın hayatı bugünden bakıldığında eserlerinin bile önüne geçiyor. Bağımlılıkları, Warhol ve aykırı yaşamıyla hemen her bohemin sempati duyduğu bir sanatçı. 80lerin New York sanat ortamına bomba gibi düşüyor. Afroamerikan figürlerin, sokak sanatının müzelere girdiği bir dönem; öncülerinden olduğu için de çokça adından söz ettiriyor. Her gittiği müzeyi fazla beyaz bulması, siyah adamları müzeye sokmaya çalışıyorum demesi, sanatın yaratıcılıkla süslenen asıl yüzünü gösteriyor. Ne yazık ki Basquiat bu ünle baş edemiyor. Bir gün limuzinle sokaklara banknotlar saçarken bir gün uyuşturucudan tamamen işlevsiz hale geliyor. Yaşamı gibi Suzanne ile ilişkisi de dengesizliklerle dolu. Suzanne’in sürekli alttan aldığı neredeyse idare ettiği bir ilişki aslında. Bir küs bir barışık ilerleyen ilişkiye Suzanne son vermeye çalışıyor. Yine temas halinde olsalar da Basquiat’nın ölümüyle noktalanıyor. Romanda belirtildiğine göre Suzanne hard drug ile dolu yaşamı bırakıp terapist oluyor. Basquiat’nın etkisi olsa gerek uzmanlığı sanat terapistliği. Roman kısacık, bir oturuşta bitiriliyor. Büyük etkiler bırakmıyor ama sanat dünyasından portrelerle ilgilenenler çok sevecektir.
November 10, 2022
Jean-Michel Basquiat ismini bilmeden eserlerini bildiğim biriydi ta ki bu kitaba kadar.
Dul Bayan Basquiat, ressam Basquiat’nın Suzanne Mallouk ile sorunlu birlikteliği özelinde hayatını anlatıyor. Bir aşk hikayesi mi bu? Sanmıyorum. Gia Carangi’nin yaşamını izlerken de benzer duygulara bürünmüştüm. Gelgitli-parçalayıcı-birbirinden sürekli bir şeyler eksilten ikili ilişkiler düğümü demek daha doğru belki de.
Basquiat’nın eserlerindeki zekayı inceleme için (ırkçılığa uğrama korkusu ve bağımlı yaşama çekilmenin etkileri gibi) bir merak uyandırıyor kitabın yazarı Jennifer Clement. Hatta sonrasında Mallouk’un ne yaptığını da araştırırken bulabilirsiniz kendinizi, sonu 27 yaşında ölen Basquiat gibi mi oldu yoksa diye.. Onun dışında yer yer sinirlerimin gerildiği yer yer duygulandığım bir kitap oldu bu.
.
Avi Pardo çevirisi, Duncan Fraser Buchanan kapak resmi ve Nazlım Dumlu kapak tasarımıyla ~
Dul Bayan Basquiat, ressam Basquiat’nın Suzanne Mallouk ile sorunlu birlikteliği özelinde hayatını anlatıyor. Bir aşk hikayesi mi bu? Sanmıyorum. Gia Carangi’nin yaşamını izlerken de benzer duygulara bürünmüştüm. Gelgitli-parçalayıcı-birbirinden sürekli bir şeyler eksilten ikili ilişkiler düğümü demek daha doğru belki de.
Basquiat’nın eserlerindeki zekayı inceleme için (ırkçılığa uğrama korkusu ve bağımlı yaşama çekilmenin etkileri gibi) bir merak uyandırıyor kitabın yazarı Jennifer Clement. Hatta sonrasında Mallouk’un ne yaptığını da araştırırken bulabilirsiniz kendinizi, sonu 27 yaşında ölen Basquiat gibi mi oldu yoksa diye.. Onun dışında yer yer sinirlerimin gerildiği yer yer duygulandığım bir kitap oldu bu.
.
Avi Pardo çevirisi, Duncan Fraser Buchanan kapak resmi ve Nazlım Dumlu kapak tasarımıyla ~
November 17, 2022
Toksik ilişkiler ve bu ilişkide boğulmamak için akıntıda kaybolmak... Bazı insanlara gerçekten de içinde kaybolacağı bir kaos gerekiyor. Suzanne de tam olarak öyle. Jean-Michel Basquiat ve Suzanne Malrouk'un tutkulu çalkantılı ve oldukça sayılabilecek birliktelikleri Dul Bayan Basquat ile hayat bulmuş. Hayatı bir oyun odasında gibi geçirenlerin sansürsüz ve filtresiz hayatlarının beni zaman zaman okurken rahatsız ettiğini itiraf etmeliyim. Yine de kuralsız ve acımasız bu oyun gerçek olduğu için belki de, etkileyiciydi. Özellikle Basquat sanatına hayran olanlardansanız okuyunuz
January 10, 2024
“I don’t believe in God. But I do believe that each of us has some sort of inner dynamic, that we are not always aware of, that guides us in life to witness certain profound things. These profound things change us forever and bring us closer to our ultimate selves. My relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat and the death of Michael Stewart were experiences of this nature.”
March 2, 2023
i'm always fascinated by artists and their lives, but this book won't be on my recommendation list. in short, this love was mostly based on drugs and abuse. and obviously these stories are real, they exist, and they must be told, but it felt like there was very little telling to do.
May 12, 2023
2023 Reading #3 | Winter Reads
(Behind every great man, there is always an even greater woman.)
_______
Mini-review: wow, wow, wow. How amazing is it to hear about someone's life through their partner's perspective?
_______
Behind every great man, there is always a great woman.
I still remember the first time I heard this saying. And how I instantly hated it: why wasn't it the other way around? Why did we only hear about great men and never great women?
Jennifer Clement came to change that for me. Widow Basquiat presented us with a fresh take on the exacerbated praise we often find in an artist's biography. By focusing on Suzanne Mallouk, Basquiat's muse and all-time companion, we are transported through the eccentric New York art scene in the 1980s, Jean's rise to fame and, ultimately, the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Mallouk's first-hand accounts help the reader set her both as an insider and an outsider of it all — and, with Clement's touch, the book captures the rawest, most unflattering piece of biographical writing I had ever read. And I was here for it.
Having previously dated an artist who was completely obsessed with Jean-Michel Basquiat, I was already acquainted with his work and had read quite a few articles on him. I think we can say that his love for Basquiat rubbed on me — hence the gasps and shrieks that still come out of me every time I find a Basquiat in a museum. When I first learnt about this book, I knew I just had to get it. And I am very glad I did… but not for the reason you might be thinking.
To my eyes, Basquiat was no longer a legend.
He was only human.
Basquiat did not have the typical wealthy background most artists had at the time — but his quirky personality and extravagant actions made him larger than life. In this book, we are presented with all sides of the radical genius. Jean-Michel despised the art world as an industry and that Black artists had no place in it. He mocked art critics and buyers alike. His art was political, but his genius attracted even the most acute.
Unfortunately, alongside fame, bad things followed suit. Drugs started corrupting Basquiat, and he became increasingly controlling and unstable. He treated those around him with disdain and disrespect, and he even “scarred” Suzanne for life as a consequence of his sexcapades. Here, we realise that Mallouk's love for Basquiat is so big that she decides to endure all this toxicity, even from afar. It is also here that we start to understand the storm of feelings that Clement so well portrayed in her poetic prose. Almost ethereal at times, it quickly turned into a rough and painful read.
On August 12, 1988, at the age of 27 (my age!), Jean-Michel Basquiat died from an overdose, cementing his place in the art world as a force to be reckoned with. He lived a high, fast and short life. Through Clement's intimate work, we learn that there is more to the artist than just his work or even his own life. There is a free spirit, there are people who care for him, there are manic episodes, there is infidelity, there is self-destruction. And, in the end, there is no judgement — because we all are, in fact, just human.
[Read between 26 January 2023 - 7 February 2023. | Review written on 1 May 2023. || I am also on Bookstagram and Storygraph as @asreadbycatarina!]
(Behind every great man, there is always an even greater woman.)
_______
Mini-review: wow, wow, wow. How amazing is it to hear about someone's life through their partner's perspective?
_______
Behind every great man, there is always a great woman.
I still remember the first time I heard this saying. And how I instantly hated it: why wasn't it the other way around? Why did we only hear about great men and never great women?
Jennifer Clement came to change that for me. Widow Basquiat presented us with a fresh take on the exacerbated praise we often find in an artist's biography. By focusing on Suzanne Mallouk, Basquiat's muse and all-time companion, we are transported through the eccentric New York art scene in the 1980s, Jean's rise to fame and, ultimately, the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Mallouk's first-hand accounts help the reader set her both as an insider and an outsider of it all — and, with Clement's touch, the book captures the rawest, most unflattering piece of biographical writing I had ever read. And I was here for it.
Having previously dated an artist who was completely obsessed with Jean-Michel Basquiat, I was already acquainted with his work and had read quite a few articles on him. I think we can say that his love for Basquiat rubbed on me — hence the gasps and shrieks that still come out of me every time I find a Basquiat in a museum. When I first learnt about this book, I knew I just had to get it. And I am very glad I did… but not for the reason you might be thinking.
To my eyes, Basquiat was no longer a legend.
He was only human.
Basquiat did not have the typical wealthy background most artists had at the time — but his quirky personality and extravagant actions made him larger than life. In this book, we are presented with all sides of the radical genius. Jean-Michel despised the art world as an industry and that Black artists had no place in it. He mocked art critics and buyers alike. His art was political, but his genius attracted even the most acute.
Unfortunately, alongside fame, bad things followed suit. Drugs started corrupting Basquiat, and he became increasingly controlling and unstable. He treated those around him with disdain and disrespect, and he even “scarred” Suzanne for life as a consequence of his sexcapades. Here, we realise that Mallouk's love for Basquiat is so big that she decides to endure all this toxicity, even from afar. It is also here that we start to understand the storm of feelings that Clement so well portrayed in her poetic prose. Almost ethereal at times, it quickly turned into a rough and painful read.
On August 12, 1988, at the age of 27 (my age!), Jean-Michel Basquiat died from an overdose, cementing his place in the art world as a force to be reckoned with. He lived a high, fast and short life. Through Clement's intimate work, we learn that there is more to the artist than just his work or even his own life. There is a free spirit, there are people who care for him, there are manic episodes, there is infidelity, there is self-destruction. And, in the end, there is no judgement — because we all are, in fact, just human.
[Read between 26 January 2023 - 7 February 2023. | Review written on 1 May 2023. || I am also on Bookstagram and Storygraph as @asreadbycatarina!]
December 27, 2021
'You know, I kept no souvenirs. I did not want to be a tourist in my own life.'
This was not what I expected, I expected a simple and plain biography, but that's not what I read, instead I read a visceral and poetic account of Suzanne's and Basquiat's relationship.
Jennifer Clement, a long time friend of Suzanne's wrote this biography in a reflective and transformative manner. It showed the life of Suzanne growing up, how she met Jean-Michel Basquiat, and their erratic lives together up until his death.
Each chapter is nothing more than one to two pages in length (eBook) which made this quite a quick read yet the contents of this biography take the reader through a timeless and cautionary journey.
Notable Quotes:
- 'There are no black men in paintings in museums.
“This is why I paint,” he says. “To get black men into museums.”'
- 'When he could, he always left enormous tips. He loved to shock, even shock with generosity. It was like punching someone.'
- (A woman to Suzanne) '“What’s going to ruin you? A man? A job? No job, no man? Your babies? What?”'
- (During the AIDS epidemic) 'She wonders how people are going to live if they cannot touch each other’s bodies.'
- 'He (Basquiat) was attracted to intelligence more than anything and to pain.'
- 'I realized that a book can reach out and embrace you like an arm and make you walk away from everything you thought you understood.'
- 'Life can be a circle, not just a line.'
February 12, 2016
The story begins with Suzanne's early life and her synesthesia. She smells and feels colors. She feels her own skeleton. This sets it up when she meets Jean-Michel Basquiat, and they share a deep, romantic and sexual relationship. They're intimate on different levels, and they view art and the world through the same lens. The story is told through a series of prose poems, alternating between the author's narration and Suzanne's words. Race is talked about throughout the book, from the perspective of blacks, Arabs, and Hispanics. The love story of Suzane and Basquiat also encounters the rich white art world, police brutality, AIDS, East Village bohemianism in the 80s, and Andy Warhold's world. I especially found the dichotomy between Basquiat and Keith Harring interesting. Suzanne explains the inspiration behind many of Basquiat's famous paintings.
"What people don't understand about Jean-Michel is that his crazy behavior had nothing to do with being an enfant terrible. Everything he did was an attack on racism and I loved him for this." - Suzanne
"What people don't understand about Jean-Michel is that his crazy behavior had nothing to do with being an enfant terrible. Everything he did was an attack on racism and I loved him for this." - Suzanne
December 15, 2021
You know, I kept no souvenirs. I did not want to be a tourist in my own life.
March 18, 2022
I adore this so so much! beautiful, marvelous. grows heavier and heavier towards the end, obviously. but still nonetheless brilliant.
I felt like underlining the whole thing really.
I felt like underlining the whole thing really.
January 26, 2024
“You of all my children were made like an angel. But you want to look over the edge to hell. Always know where that line is and never cross it.”
Told in ethereal vignettes, this is less of a biography on Basquiat and more of a tale of the woman caught in his orbit. Suzanne, the titular ‘Widow’, tells the story of the 80’s art scene and the toxic romance she shared with the late artist smothering it in an empathetic gaze.
Despite the short length, this is not an easy book to get through. The ups and downs of their relationship reflect the drug addiction that fueled them and sent the paragon Basquiat to his grave. Jean is maddening in his treatment towards her and even to himself as the pages sailed to the dreaded denouement.
Yet, he leaps from the page, entrenching us in his grip as he had Suzanne and the art world. ( A parasitic relationship that exists to this day with the artist’s pieces selling for increasingly large prices to private collectors. The kind of people he would have despised if he were alive and spited as he drenched his Armani suits in the paints he used to craft his masterpieces.)
As an admirer of his works, it has given me much to think about. It’s a darkly beautiful book and Jennifer Clement really adds poetic gravitas to her friend’s story. One of an artist taken in his prime by the very drug that fueled himand of his muse who fought for her own voice and legacy who now assists modern artists in addiction as a psychiatrist.
“It is a tale of temple bells, sounding at sunset before the image of Buddha, it is a tale of love and loves, it is a tale of tears.”
Told in ethereal vignettes, this is less of a biography on Basquiat and more of a tale of the woman caught in his orbit. Suzanne, the titular ‘Widow’, tells the story of the 80’s art scene and the toxic romance she shared with the late artist smothering it in an empathetic gaze.
Despite the short length, this is not an easy book to get through. The ups and downs of their relationship reflect the drug addiction that fueled them and sent the paragon Basquiat to his grave. Jean is maddening in his treatment towards her and even to himself as the pages sailed to the dreaded denouement.
Yet, he leaps from the page, entrenching us in his grip as he had Suzanne and the art world. ( A parasitic relationship that exists to this day with the artist’s pieces selling for increasingly large prices to private collectors. The kind of people he would have despised if he were alive and spited as he drenched his Armani suits in the paints he used to craft his masterpieces.)
As an admirer of his works, it has given me much to think about. It’s a darkly beautiful book and Jennifer Clement really adds poetic gravitas to her friend’s story. One of an artist taken in his prime by the very drug that fueled himand of his muse who fought for her own voice and legacy who now assists modern artists in addiction as a psychiatrist.
“It is a tale of temple bells, sounding at sunset before the image of Buddha, it is a tale of love and loves, it is a tale of tears.”
January 28, 2015
Art has always been an essential part of self-expression in the African American Culture. From the spoken words of music…To the unspoken words of visual expression…And Jean Michel Basquiat left his mark on the World as not only one of the most amazing African American Artist…But as one of the most amazing Artist of his time.
As a huge fan of Jean Michel Basquiat work, I could not wait to get my hands on this book. First, I must warn you... if you are looking for a chronological order of the trials of tribulation of the love story of Suzanne Mallouk a.k.a. Widow Basquiat and Jean Michel Basquiat…Then… this book is not for you. This story is told in the form of poetry…the language of L…O… V… E ….which in a sense should only enhance the love story of Jean and Suzanne.
However…A love story this is not…If you are looking for a heart wrenching love story that will bring tears to your eyes and run home and kiss your significant other…
Well…this book is definitely not for you.
In order to understand the story of Suzanne Mallouk, we must first understand the story of Jean Michel Basquiat. The life of Jean Michel Basquiat was a rag to riches story, some may say nothing less than amazing, however with fame and fortune gave birth to a new demon…drug addiction.
“Widow Basquiat” is a book of the tumultuous relationship between Suzanne and Jean told by Suzanne’s friend… Author Jennifer Clement. The mix narrative of this story often left me feeling like I was reading a teenage girl’s diary.
Now if you don’t know the story of Jean Michel Basquiat you might find this book as tantalizing as watching a reality TV show…With all of the drama of an emotional rollercoaster included.
However, if you are familiar with his story…
Well…two things can happen…this book might leave you disappointed…
Or this book may serve as a decoder ring and help you decipher the artistic works of Jean.
I think to call this story a love story is a little bit misleading…but that’s just simply my personal opinion….of my interpretation of the facts.
One…Suzanne was not in a relationship with Jean during the time of death.
Two…The only thing that made “Widow Basquait” a love story… is the fact that Suzanne and Jean both loved taking drugs.
I have no doubt that Jean and Suzanne had a deep love for each other, I just wish this book had concentrated on that a little bit more.
No…life is not all about rainbows, fairy dust, and unicorns…But honestly I’m not sure what the message in this book was suppose to be…Other than to remind us that Suzanne Mallouk was part of Jean’s life.
But most of us already knew that…
This book was like a street artist writing on a wall…Suzanne was here.
So with that said… should you read this book?
Well…I don’t see why not.
Just like everything is life…It’s all up to interpretation.
Written as it appears on The Book Blog and Etc:http://myohosisters.webs.com/apps/blo...-
As a huge fan of Jean Michel Basquiat work, I could not wait to get my hands on this book. First, I must warn you... if you are looking for a chronological order of the trials of tribulation of the love story of Suzanne Mallouk a.k.a. Widow Basquiat and Jean Michel Basquiat…Then… this book is not for you. This story is told in the form of poetry…the language of L…O… V… E ….which in a sense should only enhance the love story of Jean and Suzanne.
However…A love story this is not…If you are looking for a heart wrenching love story that will bring tears to your eyes and run home and kiss your significant other…
Well…this book is definitely not for you.
In order to understand the story of Suzanne Mallouk, we must first understand the story of Jean Michel Basquiat. The life of Jean Michel Basquiat was a rag to riches story, some may say nothing less than amazing, however with fame and fortune gave birth to a new demon…drug addiction.
“Widow Basquiat” is a book of the tumultuous relationship between Suzanne and Jean told by Suzanne’s friend… Author Jennifer Clement. The mix narrative of this story often left me feeling like I was reading a teenage girl’s diary.
Now if you don’t know the story of Jean Michel Basquiat you might find this book as tantalizing as watching a reality TV show…With all of the drama of an emotional rollercoaster included.
However, if you are familiar with his story…
Well…two things can happen…this book might leave you disappointed…
Or this book may serve as a decoder ring and help you decipher the artistic works of Jean.
I think to call this story a love story is a little bit misleading…but that’s just simply my personal opinion….of my interpretation of the facts.
One…Suzanne was not in a relationship with Jean during the time of death.
Two…The only thing that made “Widow Basquait” a love story… is the fact that Suzanne and Jean both loved taking drugs.
I have no doubt that Jean and Suzanne had a deep love for each other, I just wish this book had concentrated on that a little bit more.
No…life is not all about rainbows, fairy dust, and unicorns…But honestly I’m not sure what the message in this book was suppose to be…Other than to remind us that Suzanne Mallouk was part of Jean’s life.
But most of us already knew that…
This book was like a street artist writing on a wall…Suzanne was here.
So with that said… should you read this book?
Well…I don’t see why not.
Just like everything is life…It’s all up to interpretation.
Written as it appears on The Book Blog and Etc:http://myohosisters.webs.com/apps/blo...-
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