Warhol. Basquiat. Electric, eccentric, polar opposites… together, for the first time in the most unlikely partnership the art world has ever seen. Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope star in the thrilling American premiere of the London sensation, The Collaboration. In the summer of 1984, longtime international superstar Andy Warhol and the art scene’s newest wunderkind, Jean-Michel Basquiat, agree to work together on what may be the most talked about exhibition in the history of modern art. But can these two creative giants co-exist, or even thrive?
Sadly, the most interesting person on the Friedman stage is the energetic DJ who spins a Studio 54-worthy 1980s playlist before each act. I’m not sure I’ve ever recommended this plan before, but if you can, “second act” the intermission and leave before the play resumes. It’s the only way you’ll leave the theater satisfied.
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and inspired by the real life 1984 painting collaboration of the aging (at least in terms of artistic relevance) Warhol and the soaring Basquiat – a project presented so much more convincingly and movingly in the 1996 film Basquiat, starring Jeffrey Wright and, in the definitive performance of Warhol, David Bowie, who haunts this play like a shadow – The Collaboration is an oddly lifeless endeavor, a failure in capturing even a moment of simple artistic inspiration much less the ignition of of collaborative genius.
Videos