In what may seem largely overdue, a Basquiat exhibition is coming to the UK. Basquiat: Boom for Real is the first large-scale exhibition in the UK of the work of the prolific American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960—1988).
Drawing from museums and private collections, Basquiat: Boom for Real brings together a selection of more than 100 works, including a partial reconstruction of the first body of work that Basquiat exhibited, made for Diego Cortez’s 1981 PS1 watershed group show New York / New Wave.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983 / Courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Photo: ADAGP, Paris
Self-taught Basquiat sampled from an extraordinary range of sources, from anatomical drawings to bebop jazz. This is the first exhibition to focus on his relationship to music, text, film and television, providing new research that will enable some of his most acclaimed paintings and drawings to be understood as never before.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn, 1985 / Courtesy Private Collection
News of the upcoming exhibition is especially exciting considering last month's record-breaking $110.5 sale of Basquiat's work Untitled (1982) at Sotheby's. The price is the highest paid at auction for a work by an American artist and for any artwork created after 1980. The very same night, five of the artist's works sold at a combined $129.3 million.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982 / Courtesy Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / Photo: Studio Tromp, Rotterdam
Basquiat: Boom for Real is curated by Dr Dieter Buchhart and Eleanor Nairne, Curator, Barbican Art Gallery and organized in collaboration with the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, A Panel of Experts, 1982 / Courtesy The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Basquiat: Boom for Real
21 September 2017 - 28 January 2018
Art Gallery
Buy Tickets Here