Julian Schnabel
Artist, screenwriter and director Julian Schnabel was a leading figure of the art world in the 1980s, and has proven to be talented in many creative fields.
Synopsis
Julian Schnabel was born on October 26, 1951, in New York City. Schnabel got his first solo show at the famed Mary Boone Gallery in 1979, which helped launch his career as an artist. Since then, he has had numerous solo exhibitions around the world. Exploring other creative outlets, Schnabel turned to film making in the 1990s. He co-wrote and directed the 1996 film Basquiat.
Early Career
Artist, screenwriter and director Julian Schnabel was born on October 26, 1951, in New York, New York. One of the leading figures of the art world in the 1980s, Schnabel has proven to be talented in many creative fields. After graduating from University of Houston in the early 1970s, he eventually made this way to New York City.
Schnabel got his first solo show at the famed Mary Boone Gallery in 1979, which helped launch his career as an artist. Since then, he has had numerous solo exhibitions around the world. Sometimes called a bad boy of the art world, Schnabel caused a stir by adding unusual elements, such as broken pottery, to his mammoth canvases.
Transition to Film
Exploring other creative outlets, Schnabel turned to filmmaking in the 1990s. He co-wrote and directed the 1996 feature film Basquiat about another famous artist from the 1980s. With his next film, Schnabel told the story of another creative visionary, the Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas, in Before Night Falls (2000) starring Javier Bardem in the lead role. Both Schnabel and Bardem earned much critical acclaim for the film.
In his next cinematic effort, Schnabel directed a film about the challenging true-life story of a French magazine editor who is completely paralyzed except for one eyelid in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). Using only blinking as a means of communication, the editor dicates his memoir. Schnabel has received several awards for his work on the film, including the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe Award.
The following year, Schnabel saw the release of his latest directorial project, the concert film Lou Reed's Berlin (2008). He later worked on Miral, based on the true story of a Palestinian nurse who started an orphanage in Jerusalem in the late 1940s.