A day in the life of a young artist, Jean Michel Basquiat, who needs to raise money to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. He wanders the downtown Manhattan streets carrying a painting he hopes to sell, encountering friends, whose lives (and performances) we peek into... Downtown '81 not only captures one of the most interesting and lively artists of the 20th century as he is poised for fame, but it is a slice of life from one of the most exciting periods in American culture, with the emergence of new wave music, new painting, hip hop and graffiti.