Swiss artist Edo Bertoglio came to New York City in 1976 and immersed himself in its unique art scene. By night he met girls in the toilets of Studio 54 and by morning they were posing in his make-shift studio (a Manhattan roof) dressed to the nines. Models included Debbie Harry, Robin Wright (Penn) and Anna Sui. In the winter of 1980-81, he filmed Downtown 81, starring the then-unknown Jean-Michel Basquiat.
But, like Basquiat and countless others, Bertoglio became hooked on heroin, selling everything but his photos to feed his habit until in 1990 then-girlfriend, the artist Maripol, packed him home on a plane to save his life.
Face Addict is the story of what happened when he returned to a changed city, the home of his artistic expression and crushing heroin addiction. Read LWLies interview with the man himself here.
I thouhgt the film was overlong.
It’s tough, when you’re expecting celebrities to be the focus of a film (in this case warhol and debbie harry), when it turns out the be about real life in all its grittiness, you have to re-asses.
Edo comes off as a really interesting character - in fact, the whole movie is a lot darker than I expected it to be.
Written by chris on August 21st, 2008 at 6:21 pm