Julian Schnabel

**Julian Schnabel** (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker who gained international attention in the 1980s with his unique "plate paintings", which featured broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been a major proponent of independent arthouse cinema, and has made significant contributions as a director. Among his notable works are _Before Night Falls_, which highlighted Javier Bardem's breakthrough Academy Award-nominated role, and _The Diving Bell and the Butterfly_, which received four Academy Award nominations. Schnabel won several awards for the latter, including the Cannes Film Festival Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. He boasts an illustrious art career, distinguished by his usage of diverse materials, such as plaster, wax, photographs, antlers, velvet, and ceramics on large-scale paintings. His film career began in the 1990s with his biopic on painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, and continued with several adaptations and his own works. Besides his contributions to art and cinema, Schnabel has also written and produced music, releasing his album _Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud_ in 1995.