MovieChat Forums > Basquiat (1996) Discussion > marks on his face

marks on his face

posted 18 years ago by pinkfloyd70
4 replies | jump to latest

what were those marks on his face towards the end? they were never explained, just referenced a couple of times. my boyfriend thought they were lesions from HIV, but it was never confirmed. Any ideas?

-Lacey

[–] dkubick 18 years ago

yeh in phoebe hoban's bio of jean-michel she writes that there is quite a bit of speculation that he may have contracted the hiv virus. though its not really pointed out in the movie, basquiat had many sexual relationships with men over the years as well as women. check out that book; its a really fascinating and sad account of a great artist and the times he worked in.

[–] deadsetlace 18 years ago

He was bi(!). I'm a new Basquiat fan who wanted to rent this movie but I'll read this Phoebe Hoban bio dkubick mentioned.

[–] mattleighkelly 8 years ago

He was a drug user including heroin. Many users or tweakers become fixated on anything and everything including picking at their skin.

[–] [email protected] (1288) 7 years ago

Just saw the movie.. I thought it was from HIV but then his face cleared up in the scenes after. He died from an overdose of heroin, not from Aids but who knows?