Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Julian Schnabel moved with his family to west Texas when still very young and it was there that he spent most of his formative years. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Houston in 1973 and consequently sent an application to the independent study program at the Whitney Museum in NYC, which included slides of his work sandwiched between two pieces of bread.
Julian Schnabel
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Julian Schnabel moved with his family to west Texas when still very young and it was there that he spent most of his formative years. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Houston in 1973 and consequently sent an application to the independent study program at the Whitney Museum in NYC, which included slides of his work sandwiched between two pieces of bread. (He was accepted.) Struggling in the art world, Schnabel worked as a short-order cook and hung out at Max’s Kansas City, the restaurant-nightclub in Greenwich Village, while he worked on his art. In 1975, Schnabel had his first solo show at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. Over the next few years he traveled frequently to Europe, where he was enormously impressed by the work of Antoni Gaudi, Cy Twombly and Joseph Beuys.
It was with his first solo show, at the Mary Boone Gallery in 1979, however, that Schnabel would truly come to be regarded as a major new force in the art world. He participated at the Venice Biennale in 1980 and by the mid-1980s had become a major figure in the Neo-expressionism movement. By the time he exhibited his work in a show jointly organized by Boone and Leo Castelli in 1981, he had become firmly established. His now famous “plate paintings” — large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates brought on a boisterous and critical response from the art world. But what was beyond doubt was the vibrancy that Schnabel brought to the art scene. Using Kabuki theatrical sets, velvet and animal hides, his bold, somewhat confrontational style recalled the energy and daring of Picasso and Pollock.
Schnabel’s signature works, filled with raw emotion contain an underlying edge of brutality while still being suffused with energy. Schnabel claims that he’s “aiming at an emotional state, a state that people can literally walk into and be engulfed.” Considered heroic, Schanbel is known for having a charismatic personality.
Schnabel published his autobiography CVJ: Nicknames of Maitre D’s & Other Excerpts From Life, in 1987, and has written and directed two films: Basquiat a biopic on the controversial painter Jean-Michel Basquiat (1996) and Before Night Falls, an adaptation of Reinaldo Arenas’ autobiographical novel (2000), which he also produced. Before Night Falls was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor (Javier Bardem).
Julian Schnabel lives in New York, maintaining studios in New York City and in Montauk on the eastern end of Long Island. His works are in the collections of various museums throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art; The Whitney Museum of American Art; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA); Reina Sofia and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, etc.
1974 – Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York City
Galleria Cardi & Company, Milan
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt
2000
Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
Galeria Ramis Barquet, Mexico City
1995
Joan Miro Foundation, Barcelona
Ramis Barquet Gallery, Monterrey
Jablonka Galerie, Cologne
1994
Museo de Monterrey, Monterrey
1991
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
1990
Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris
The Pace Gallery, New York City
Duson Gallery, Seoul
Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome
Maison Carre, Nimes
1989
Museum Fr Gegenwartskunst, Basel
1987
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee
Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo
Hoffman/Borman Gallery, Santa Monica
Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
1986
Mario Diacono Gallery, Boston
The Pace Gallery, New York City
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Sdtishe Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf
Whiteney Museum of American Art, New York City
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
1984
The Pace Gallery, New York City
1979
Mary Boone Gallery, New York City
1978
December Gallery, Dusseldorf
1976
Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston
Videos
TateShots: Meet the Artist – Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel in “In the Course of Seven Days” by Porfirio Munoz (Excerpt)
