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Go Beyond the Basquiat You Thought You Knew at a New UK Exhibit

Opening this September, 'Basquiat: Boom For Real' is the late artist's first major exhibit in the UK in over 20 years.
LIKE AN IGNORANT EASTER SUIT’, Jean-Michel Basquiat on the set of Downtown 81. Photo: Edo Bertoglio © New York Beat Film LLC. By permission of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Perhaps the most unique aspect of The Barbican’s upcoming show, Basquiat: Boom For Real, is that, in its entirety, it is an investigative portrait of the artist, providing context for his development and his process rather than simply a visual panoply of his works. Opening in September, the curators of the exhibition have partnered with the Basquiat family to unearth a bevy of miscellaneous influences that fueled Jean-Michel Basquiat’s creative prowess, from anatomical drawings, to bebop jazz, to silent films.

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Of the exhibition, Barbican curator Eleanor Nairne tells The Creators Project, “Basquiat is an artist who has been the subject of a number of important exhibitions over the years, but the work is so rich with meaning that the surface has only been scratched in terms of interrogating his range of references. We have done extensive research into his source material—from rare jazz LP liner notes to books on the history of cinema to popular television programmes—in order to understand the world of information that he distills down into his compositions. I hope that this new information will help visitors to appreciate his works in a new light.”

10. Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, 1983, Photo copyright Roland Hagenberg.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, 1983 © Roland Hagenberg

4. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1960), 1983, Courtesy Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate. Licenced by Artestar, NY.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1960), 1983 © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, NY

An outsider in every sense, Basquiat found his artistic calling amongst the underground, punk, and graffiti subcultures of the 1970s Lower East Side. Leaving home at 17, he quickly became known for his iconoclastic messages as SAMO (part of an artistic collaboration with Al Diaz) and later, his highly individualized style, likened by critics to artists such as Cy Twombly and Jean Dubuffet. In less than seven years, Basquiat went from sleeping on friends' couches and pushing his illustrated t-shirts on the street to selling works for upwards of $25,000. He was a child prodigy in the NYC art scene by the early 1980s, eventually befriending and collaborating with Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, among others.

8. THESE INSTITUTIONS HAS THE MOST POLITICAL INFLUENCE A.TELEVISION B. THE CHURCH C. SAMO D. MC DONALDS'. Downtown 81, Edo Bertoglio ©New York Beat Film.png

THESE INSTITUTIONS HAS THE MOST POLITICAL INFLUENCE A.TELEVISION B. THE CHURCH C. SAMO D. MC DONALDS’, Jean-Michel Basquiat on the set of Downtown 81. Photo: Edo Bertoglio ©New York Beat Film LLC. By permission of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat

6. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn, 1985 Courtesy Private Collection.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn, 1985. Courtesy Private Collection © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, NY

The first Basquiat exhibit in the UK in over 20 years, Basquiat: Boom For Real will include over 100 works, from the most famous to those rarely exhibited publicly. The curators were driven to create such an exhibition by the overwhelming lack of acclaim Basqiuat’s work has received in the UK, with not a single work in any public collection. Ironically, the UK was home to Basquiat’s first solo show—giving a voice to his art before his own country and city.

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7. Jean dancing at the Mudd Club with painted t-shirt, 1979 Courtesy Nicholas Taylor.jpg

Jean dancing at the Mudd Club with painted t-shirt, 1979 © Nicholas Taylor

2. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983, Whitney Museum of American Art, ARS, New York, ADAGP, Paris.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983. Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art, New York © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by Artestar, NY

Beyond its foray into Basquiat’s myriad influences and the many prominent works on display, the exhibit also partially reconstructs his first body of work. This allows for a visual compass from his humble beginnings to the later, more complex and lauded works before his untimely death at the age of 27 in 1988. The exhibit offers the main floor for experiencing Basquiat’s work visually and then, in the downstairs spaces below, deconstructs some of his most famous paintings with newly uncovered scholarship that delves into the creative processes behind them. It is a thorough investigation of the life and process of a genius whose art continues to inspire generations of artists and viewers.

1. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled 1982, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Studio Tromp, Rotterdam.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Courtesy Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, NY Photo: Studio Tromp, Rotterdam

5. Jean-Michel Basquiat, A Panel of Experts, 1982, Courtesy The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, A Panel of Experts, 1982. Courtesy The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, NY Photo: MFA, Douglas M. Parker

3. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1980, Whitney Museum of American Art, ARS, New York, ADAGP, Paris.jpg

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1980. Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by Artestar, NY

Basquiat: Boom for Real opens September 21, 2017 at The Barbican. Click here for more information.

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