Basquiat @ Barbican

Jean-Michel Basquiat. Today an icon for the rebellious youth. Died from a heroin overdose at age 27. Now his 'primitive' crown drawing is continuously printed onto T-shirts at Urban Outfitters and plastered onto the bedroom walls of teens. Likely to have inspired A Tribe Called Quest in their approach to hip-hop and their Basquiat-esque album covers. The most exciting exhibition that I have seen for a very long time.

But before Basquait became a world-wide iconic martyr of an artist, he was merely a graffiti artist in New York in the 1980s. Starting out as the anoynymous creator behind SAMO (Same Old Shit) and sleeping rough in Tompkins Square park, he quickly made his name in the landmark exhibition New York/New Wave in 1981 being shown alongside 100 artists and musicians such as Andy Warhol. In this exhibition the curator Cortez tried to capture the downtown countercultural scene in New York. Basquiat's career was launched and his painterly talents were recognised. He pointed out to critics that he never went to art school, he relied purely on looking. He played up his image of the street kid and run-away teen. However as a child he often frequented Art Galleries such as MoMA with his mother. His art historical influences are echoed in his later art where he draws upon the works of Picasso and Da Vinci and Matisse to establish himself amongst the artist community in New York.

(see below Leonardo da Vinci's Greatest Hits 1982. Acrylic, oil stick and paper college on canvas.)

Below is the painting, Dos Cabezas, that Basquiat produced within 2 hours of meeting Andy Warhol in 1982 for the first time. He famously delivered it to Warhol still dripping wet with paint. This exemplifies Basquiat's energy and spontaneity even before the drugs. Some might assume that his manic and energetic approach to art was partly drugged-fuelled. However his creativity was not, it came long before the drugs and stuck with him until his death.

His work combines photography, photocopying of his own work, collages of mixed media pieces. One of his pieces, Helmet, 1981, echoes the work of Duchamp in his approach to creating a ready-made; it consists of a baseball helmet with chunks of real human hair (presumably his) stuck to the top surface of the helmet. He has painted it white with drawn on bird-eyes on the sides to add to the vicious bird-like beak.

Helmet, 1891.

A point worth noting is that all of his works are in private hand and not galleries, therefore one can only imagine the effort involved curating this exhibition and tracking down all of the private collectors.

This exhibition is on till 28th January so make sure to hurry! Students can also register as a Young Barbican online for free for £5 tickets.

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2017/event/basquiat-boom-for-real