Jean-Michel Basquiat in his studio at the Great Jones Street, New York, 1985 In front of...

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel is devoting a large retrospective to Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 -1988), the famous American painter and draftsman who tragically died of a drug overdose at the age of only twenty-seven, in order to mark what would have been his fiftieth birthday. It is the first comprehensive Basquiat exhibition ever to be held in Europe, with over one hundred paintings, works on paper and objects from renowned museums and private collections around the world. His works, populated by comic-like figures, skeletal silhouettes, curious everyday objects, and poetic slogans, are highly colorful and powerful. They blend pop culture and cultural history into critical and ironic commentaries on consumer society and social injustice. The exhibition brings together many of Basquiat's major works and illustrates the development of this legendary artist.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Basquiat was the son of an Haitian immigrant and his wife, who originated from Puerto Rico. His career began in the New York underground, as a graffiti artist, musician and actor, before he turned to painting at age nineteen. His works are suffused with the same intensity and energy that marked his short life. In the course of only eight years, when he collaborated, among others, with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente and Debby Harry, he produced an oeuvre of approximately 1000 paintings and 2000 drawings. Against the background of the then-dominant Conceptual and Minimal Art, Basquiat succeeded in setting new figurative and expressive accents in art. His works, populated by comic-like, skeletal figures, curious everyday objects, and poetic slogans, are colorful and powerful. They blend elements from pop culture and cultural history, including music and sports, with political and economic themes to produce critical and ironic commentaries on consumer society and social injustice - especially as regards racism.
The exhibition which will run from May 9th until September 5th was conceived by the Fondation Beyeler in collaboration with the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris. The exhibition will then go to Paris where it will be on view from October 15, 2010 to January 30, 2011. (MG)
www.fondationbeyeler.ch

Published 04.05.2010