It was clear that his sexual interest was not monochromatic. It did not rely on visual stimulation, such as a pretty girl. It was a very rich multichromatic sexuality. He was attracted to people for all different reasons. They could be boys, girls, thin, fat, pretty, ugly. It was, I think, driven by intelligence. He was attracted to intelligence more than anything and to pain. He was very attracted to people who silently bore some sort of inner pain as he did, and he loved people who were one of a kind, people who had a unique vision of things.” Jennifer Clement is the President of PEN International and the first woman to be elected since the organization was founded in 1921. Clement grew up in Mexico City, Mexico. She studied English Literature and Anthropology at New York University and also studied French Literature in Paris, France. She has an MFA from the University of Southern Maine. 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.

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.Jennifer Clement bore witness to the glorious, grimy utopia of the 70's and early 80's created from nothing, spitting out geniuses. A mesmerising portrayal of New York City’s art scene in the early 80s and one its luminaries: Jean-Michel Basquiat seen through the eyes of his partner Suzanne Mallouk. Provocative…With short, episodic chapters, Clement ( Prayers for the Stolen, 2014, etc.) delivers real insight into the life of the brilliant artist as well as the glittering—but ultimately chaotic—world that consumed him…Disturbing and poetic.”— Kirkus Sublime, poetic…[Clement] chronicles her close friend Suzanne Mallouk’s love affair with Basquiat in elegant, spare, riveting prose…A powerful female coming of age story…A harrowing, beautifully told love story about two seekers colliding in a pivotal moment in history, and setting everything, including themselves, on fire.”— Rebecca Walker for NPR She went on to receive a BA in psychology from Hunter College. She graduated from Saint George University Medical School in Grenada, British West Indies, in 2001. She completed her residency, in psychiatry, at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City in 2005. She has been a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology since 2007 and she became a member of the American and International Psychoanalytic Associations, after completing psychoanalytic training at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City. Mallouk continues to paint and has a private practice in New York City as a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst. She teaches and supervises psychiatry residents at Mount Sinai Medical Center Morningside Campus. She is also the Director of the Psychiatry Resident’s Elective at William Alanson White Institute and teaches in the Intensive Program in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy there.

Suzanne Mallouk, M.D. is a painter, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in New York City. She is best known for being an East Village artist in the 1980s and for her relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat. This relationship is portrayed in the book, Widow Basquiat: A Memoir , written by Jennifer Clement. In 2015, Vogue magazine listed Basquiat and Mallouk amongst “ The 21 Most Stylish Art World Couples of All Time.” 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? 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. Lewis, Miles Marshall (17 July 2001). "Portrait of the Artist's Girlfriend". The Village Voice . Retrieved 1 January 2021. 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."

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He was fond of extravagance, excess and eccentric whims and would buy Suzanne expensive cakes and flowers. He would paint in expensive Armani suits and then throw them away and ride everywhere in a limousine. All of the quirks and chameleon-like aspects of Basquiat’s personality show through in this narrative, along with the chaotic, exhilarating art circles that they both moved in. Jean-Michel Basquiat One day he says, “Suzanne, I’m almost a famous artist now and I don’t know how to draw. Do you think I should be concerned?”

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Content Catnip is a quirky internet wunderkammer written by an Intergalactic Space Māori named Content Catnip. Join me as I meander through the quirky and curious aspects of history, indigenous spirituality, the natural world, animals, art, storytelling, books, philosophy, travel, Māori culture and loads more. Perspective is an amazing thing. You think that you’re true about an issue, and then all of a sudden, a perspective comes along that causes a paradigm shift in your thinking.

These days Basquiat is among the most expensive artists in the world; these days his images are franchised, replicated everywhere from Urban Decay blusher pots to Reebok trainers. You could scorn the commercialisation, but isn’t it what he wanted, to colour every surface with his runes? Walker, Rebecca (9 February 2014). "From Muse To Outcast, A Woman Comes of Age In 'Widow Basquiat' ". NPR. To be a fly on the wall during this time would have been very interesting. Widow Basquiat is refreshing, instead of seeing Basquiat as an enigmatic and cult-figure of underground art, we also witness him as a frail and vulnerable human being with a lot of faults.

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It was clear that his sexual interest was not monochromatic. It did not rely on visual stimulation, such as a pretty girl. It was a very rich multi chromatic sexuality. He was attracted to people for all different reasons. They could be boys, girls, thin, fat, pretty, ugly. It was, I think, driven by intelligence. He was attracted to intelligence more than anything and to pain. He was very attracted to people who silently bore some sort of inner pain as he did, and he loved people who were one of a kind, people who had a unique vision of things. 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. The beautifully written, deeply affecting story of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s partner, her past, and their life together Growing up in Mexico City, Jennifer Clement lived next door to Frida Kahlo’s house. It was an unorthodox and bohemian childhood, living alongside artists, communists, revolutionaries and poets, and one that allowed an awakening of creative freedom and curiosity about the world. 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.