REVIEW: Artist Edward Brezinski comes into focus in new doc

Photo: Artist Edward Brezinski is the subject of the new documentary Make Me Famous, directed by Brian Vincent. Photo courtesy of Make Me Famous / Provided by Caitlin Hughes PR with permission.

Artist Edward Brezinski may not be a household name, even among art enthusiasts, but the new documentary Make Me Famous makes a case that this painter from the Lower East Side of Manhattan should be revisited and reconsidered by an art world that too easily passed him by in the 1980s. Director Brian Vincent’s film, which is now in theaters, pieces together the life and impact of this artist, mostly through recollections from his friends, family members and acquaintances.

Make Me Famous is billed as a portrait of Brezinski, but in more ways than one, the film actually is a portrait of the Lower East Side during its artistic heyday, when young professionals would live and work in rundown buildings, amidst less-than-stellar circumstances in the local neighborhood. This was the world of the Mudd Club, CBGB, pop-up galleries and open-mic sessions, with a whole cast of nobodies, many of whom would quickly become somebodies, attracting the interest and dollars of uptown benefactors.

Brezinski, a skilled artist and ambitious mover-and-shaker with a yearning to be famous, was at the heart of this Lower East Side scene. He was a common presence at art events, and he even started his own gallery, called the Magic Gallery. He made connections to almost everyone in the neighborhood, and he left an indelible mark on these neighbors and friends — with many of them holding fond, unforgettable memories of him some 40 years later. The long list of talking heads in the documentary, some of them now deceased, speaks to the importance of this time in artistic history: Duncan Hannah, Peter McGough, James Romberger, Marguerite Van Cook, David McDermott, Eric Bogosian, Richard Hambleton, Marcus Leatherdale, Patti Astor, Kenny Scharf, Annina Nosei, Claudia Summers and Walter Robinson.

There are several themes that emerge in Vincent’s film. One centers on why Brezinski never gained industry respect and financial stability like so many of his contemporaries. A definitive answer is not given. Certainly his abstract work is worthy of praise and deserving of a second look. Museums seem to be making the slow, but necessary turn toward his artistic output; this reporter caught a couple pieces of his at a recent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan, an institution that perhaps Brezinski could have only dreamed to be included in.

Another thread in the film is what happened to Brezinski after the East Village scene changed and dispersed. This is when the mystery enters the narrative, with questions about Brezinski’s time in Nice, France, and whether or not accounts of his death should be believed. At this point in the documentary, Make Me Famous takes on a motif not dissimilar from the Oscar-winning film Searching for Sugar Man about the musician Sixto Rodriguez.

Even though there are intriguing questions about Brezinski’s ultimate fate, Make Me Famous is at its best when re-creating the scene of the Lower East Side art world, with recollections of Club 57 and other important institutions and neighborhood locations, many of which are now shuddered and gentrified. There are also vital musings about everyone from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Julian Schnabel. The documentary serves as a postcard to a neighborhood that, at one point in its history, was unique and challenging, but Vincent doesn’t romanticize the surroundings or the difficulties of being an artist 40 years ago. He presents the realities of the locale, from the East Village being ravaged by the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the sometimes-squalid surroundings that made art-making interesting and trying. He presents the artists and their work honestly and respectfully, with gratitude for the creative risks employed and the long-gone character of this tucked-away corner of Manhattan.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Make Me Famous, directed and edited by Brian Vincent, is currently running in movie theaters. Produced by Heather Spore and Vincent. Running time: 93 minutes. Rating: Click here for more information.