Indy's indie non-profit arthouse Kan-Kan Cinema & Brasserie continues to be the place to go for cinematic works of wonder that you simply won't find screening anywhere else in my hometown of Indianapolis. This time around, I'm talking about Brian Vincent's irresistible Make Me Famous, a madcap romp through the 1980's NYC art scene that focuses its lens on the legacy and mysterious disappearance of downtown NYC painter Edward Brezinski. Living in the shadows of more familiar names like Basquiat, Haring, and others, Brezinski was an immensely talented artist desperate to become a household name yet who never quite made it on that level. 

Make Me Famous is screening in Indy at the Kan-Kan on Friday, May 17th, at 7pm with director Brian Vincent and producer Heather Spore scheduled to be present for a discussion following the film. 

Make Me Famous captivates, lively and interesting characters interviewed throughout the film along with an abundance of archival footage to ground the film in a sense of time and place. Vincent immerses us in the culture of the 1980's NYC art scene and creates a desire to learn even more about it. Where Make Me Famous really succeeds is in exploring the world of the "almost famous" artists and performers. The artists of the Lower East Side, especially Brezinski, are given the dominant voice here with everyone from artists to musicians to family members to collectors chiming in. Vincent captures the scene beautifully, both making me wish I'd been there and yet also making me kind of glad I wasn't. 

Much is made of his ramshackle 3rd Street walk-up apartment directly across the street from a men's shelter. Brezinski staged numerous events here, a fact that somehow adds gravitas to art work I already find captivating. 

Brezinski sought fame with a passion, his paintings mostly consisting of portraiture of friends, peers, and people he would meet along his journey. Utilizing a neo-expressionist style dominated by a thick abstraction, Brezinski's work is both energetic yet emotionally revealing and resonant. 

We've all known artists who seem to have never quite achieved the success they deserved. Make Me Famous paints a portrait of one such artist and the life he lived and the obstacles he faced in working toward the success he so much desired. 

A rare opportunity to experience a unique time and place in the American art scene, Make Me Famous is the kind of indie doc that rarely arrives in Indy and is definitely one to catch on May 17th at Indy's Kan-Kan. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic