This may be a bit of a tease, since the show has been closed for a week now, but hopefully some of you were lucky enough to catch the Basquiat show in Paris. C'était fantastique!
For those of you less familiar, Basquiat was a Brooklyn-born, boho-raised grafitti/street-artist/noise-musician/lady-killer who later went on to show at the Gagosian empire (Los Angeles, to be exact), be the first African-American to be shown at the Whitney Biennial, and become best friends with none other than Andy Warhol himself. He was also good friends with Kieth Haring, artist/director Julian Schnabel, and even had an affair with Madonna at one point. He was fluent in Spanish, French, Creole as well as English, and had a knack for re-interpreting all of his earlier influences (which included art history, classical music, and bebop) into extraordinarily sophisticated scrawled images that practically scream out to you like a rebellious child (who just happens to have a razor-sharp, precocious mind). His career peaked at 25, and he passed away just 2 years later from drug overdose. In his lifetime, he produced over 1,000 paintings and another 1,000 drawings. His images carry an extraordinary power.
I mean, he was the real deal here, guys. Nowadaways, hipsters are mostly just rich kids with alternative fashion sense (not to hate, but just to be blunt/critical) - but Basquiat barely ate, couch-surfed, and started his "art career" by graffitti-ing poetry across SoHo with his trademark, "SAMO" -short for "Same Old Shit". Even his life story is poetic; in an act of wanting to become a famous artist, he found that the only way to paint was to scrounge around for abandoned doors and windows on the street, which were comparable in size to the canvases which he could not afford to buy on his own. He survived this way purely out of his will to be independent, until his career skyrocketed and he became the epicenter of the New York party scene in the 80s. His parents lived a train ride away, but he refused to go back home after running away at age 17. Basquiat was the ultimate post-modernist; he defined being glam hipster; he made neo-expressionism.
But, not to gush on for too long about the artist - here are a few preview images from the MAM site.
Revue: This retrospective was breathtaking. There were so many works that I almost got lost among them. There honestly was not one I disliked. It was wonderful that the exhibition contained so many pieces, but there were moments when I felt the works were a bit crowded - it was almost like too much a good thing. But overall, it really was delightful to see so many at once! Up until now, I only had the chance to see 1 or 2 works at a time, at best, at auction previews. Mind you, each one of these paintings would bring home millions of dollars nowaways. Bottom line: this show was truly a treat and I congratulate those who curated the show together for recognizing this modern master.
Extra: A beautiful film by Tamra Davis titled, "Basquiat: the Radiant Child" - highly recommended. There also is a film by Julian Schnabel which I have yet to see, titled, simply, "Basquiat".
