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Culture Lust by Angela Carone

Julian Schnabel On Arts Coverage

Sunday morning.  I'm watching CBS Sunday Morning - one of the most civilized programs on television - and Serena Altschul is interviewing painter and award-winning filmmaker Julian Schnabel .  He's talking about the scene in his film Basquiat where Christopher Walken, as an art critic, is interviewing Jean-Michel Basquiat , played by Jeffrey Wright.  The scene is a pretty damning portrayal of art critcs.  In the Sunday Morning interview, Schnabel continues his criticism, going after The New York Times arts section and its title: Arts & Leisure.

Schnabel says, "What do arts and leisure have in common?  It's an oxymoron."  I agree the conflation of arts and leisure, as well as arts and entertainment, is frustrating.  I did think it was ironic, however, that Schnabel was making the point that arts and leisure don't mix, all the while dressed in his signature pajamas.  

Angelino from Los Angeles
February 04, 2008 at 09:56 PM
Can we talk about the fact that he's wearing a pajama shirt under the jacket in this photo? Just because you're an artist doesn't mean you throw a sport coat (double breasted to boot) over your pajamas and walk the carpet at Cannes.