A few days ago, an exhibition curated by the two sisters of the famous graffiti artist Jean Michel Basquiat opened in New York, attracting a large audience to visit the exhibition.
The exhibition, themed "King Pleasure," is most special, when the artist's family held the exhibition for him for the first time, with more than 100 precious paintings that have hardly been seen in public.
Exhibition site
Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was one of the representatives of Graffiti and New Art in the United States after World War II, and he was friends with the famous pop artist Andy Warhol, both of whom attracted much attention in the Western art world at that time.
Unfortunately, the talented artist, hailed by the art world as a "radiant child," died prematurely due to drug overdose, and his works from his most glorious 1980s have since become a treasure sought after by collectors around the world, and their value has climbed all the way.
Basquiat's two younger sisters
The exhibition for him was held by his two younger sisters: Lisane and Jeannie. Because their parents divorced, they have been very close to this brother since they were young. "He's been very naughty and creative since he was a kid, and his brain is full of all kinds of ghost ideas." In the interview, Lisan recalled, "He would take banana peels and peanut shells to the oven and roast them, and he would like to draw everywhere — on all kinds of paper, on sketchbooks." ”
For this exhibition, Lisan and Jenny carefully prepared for nearly five years. The exhibition is set in a 1,400-square-meter building in New York's West Chelsea district, and one of the exhibit halls is specially arranged to resemble the living room of their home in Brooklyn when they were children.
A corner of the exhibition hall arranged as a living room
At the exhibition site, viewers can not only admire Basquiat's paintings, but also see a record card on his birthday on December 22, 1960: "Our child is called Jean Michelle, weighing 6 pounds and 10 ounces (about 5 pounds and 8 pairs)", and a bicycle he used to ride as a teenager, the chain is slightly rusty.
According to Basquiat's two younger sisters, after his brother's death, the paintings he left behind were largely kept by their father, Gerald Basquiat. Gerald died in 2013, after he had already confessed to his two daughters about continuing to defend Basquiat's legacy.
One of the works on display, Basquiat's Charles I
"After all these years, we are still very relieved to see that many people still miss him and want to know more about him. So we planned this exhibition to share these treasures that have never been exposed. "So this is not an academic retrospective, it's just a simple nostalgia from family." ”
According to Lisan, in addition to Basquiat's, there are four paintings from her brother's former friend: the famous Andy Warhol. "It's four portraits that he painted for my brother, my father and stepmother, and Jenny."
Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang according to the artist's official website
Edited by Duan Xueying