Nicholas Taylor shot the roll of black-and-white film in 1979, after a night of partying at New York City's famed Mudd Club.

His model was Jean-Michel Basquiat, a 19-year-old musician and artist trying to find his place in the world.

"He was couch-surfing at the time," Taylor said. "He wasn't homeless, but he was spending the night at different people's apartments. He had left his parents in Brooklyn and moved to Manhattan."

The two young men had much in common. Taylor had left his hometown of Belleville to pursue his own creative interests, including art, music and photography.

Taylor had no way of knowing Basquiat would become an international art star, selling his "graffiti paintings" for five figures and collaborating with Andy Warhol.

"He looked like a young, fresh-faced kid," Taylor said. "He didn't have any of the lines or spots on his face from the drugs that eventually did him in."

Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27. Miramax told his life story in a 1996 movie. Today, his paintings sell for millions of dollars.

To show a side of Basquiat rarely seen, Taylor will display 27 of his 1979 photographs at Southwestern Illinois College's Schmidt Art Center in Belleville today through Dec. 20.

"They seem like simple black-and-white photos, but they tell a lot about the character and moods of (Basquiat)," said Libby Reuter, Schmidt's executive director and curator. "And that's what great art does. It captures the emotional along with the physical."

The exhibit, called "Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait," is traveling to galleries at colleges and universities across the country.

Taylor will appear at an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. today. The public is invited. Admission is free.

Two other exhibits also will open at Schmidt tonight. C'babi Bayoc of St. Louis will show his bold, colorful and respectful African American caricatures. Arthur T. Towata of Alton will show his ash-fired stoneware jars with iridescent glazes.

"They all have a local connection," Reuter said, noting Taylor and C'babi attended SWIC and Towata once was stationed at nearby Scott Air Force Base.

Taylor grew up in Belleville. He graduated from SWIC in 1974 and briefly attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville before moving to New York.

Early on, Taylor developed a friendship with Basquiat, who dated Madonna before her stardom. Both men played guitar in an "industrial-art" band called Gray.

"People are amazed when they see (the 1979 photographs) because his hair is completely different," Taylor said. "He had kind of an African mohawk."

By 1985, Basquiat had gained international fame for his colorful, graffiti-like paintings. They reflected his view of black history and urban culture and his love of music and language.

But drugs took their toll on Basquiat, who was frequently described by friends as "paranoid" and "erratic."

"I saw him about two weeks before he passed away, and he looked like he was 60 years old," Taylor said.

In 1996, Taylor recorded "Suicide Hotline" for the Miramax movie "Basquiat." He had written the song for Gray after Basquiat made a prank phone call to a suicide hot line.

The movie's soundtrack pairs Taylor's instrumentals with dialogue by Jeffrey Wright and William Burroughs, who played Basquiat and the hotline operator.

"I'm on the soundtrack with Van Morrison and David Bowie," Taylor said. "So that's pretty exciting."

In 2000, Taylor helped produce three songs for "Downtown 81." The low-budget film featured Basquiat as an actor but was never released in the 1980s.

Today, Taylor and his Japanese wife, Ume, an independent designer, operate a New York boutique that sells fashion accessories.

Taylor also works as a deejay, playing his own "trip-hop" music. This year, he toured Japan and Europe as an opening act for the rapper Rammallzee.

"The highlight was in Toulouse, France," Taylor said. "We had 3,000 kids (audience members) in a park. We were opening up for a group called The Bug."

Taylor still rents the Manhattan apartment where the 1979 photographs were taken and where Basquiat lived briefly in 1981.

"I have relics of his graffiti on my walls," Taylor said.

"Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait" was curated by Michael J. Beam of Niagara University's Castellani Art Museum in New York, formerly of the Mitchell Museum in Mount Vernon.

Schmidt Art Center will show the films "Basquiat" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 and "Downtown 81" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8 as part of its new Thursday night movie program. Admission is free.

"Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait" by photographer Nicholas Taylor; "C'babi Bayoc: Family Portraits" by painter C'babi Bayoc; and "Arthur T. Towata: Recent Work" by ceramic artist Arthur T. Towata.

Schmidt Art Center at Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Ave. in Belleville.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays through Dec. 20.

"Basquiat" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 and "Downtown 81" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8.

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