- Documents the first major multimedia exhibition devoted to the role
of music in Jean-Michel Basquiat's work- Accompanies an exhibition at
the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from October 2022 - February 2023 and
Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris, March - July 2023During the
late 1970s and early 1980s, New York City was financially and socially
bankrupt, but the art and music scene was flourishing. During these
years, the downtown New York music scene - no wave, hip-hop, disco funk
and club culture - shaped Jean-Michel Basquiat as both a musician and an
artist. This catalog for a traveling exhibition explores how Basquiat's
painting has parallels in his music (sampling, cut-up, rapping), and
takes a new look at his production as a writer and a poet in light of
his connections with the then-emerging hip-hop culture. This beautifully
illustrated exhibition catalog of rarely seen photographs and images
sheds new light on Basquiat as a musician, exploring how his art and
music are related, and how they reflect on his identity as a Black
artist in the United States, the downtown New York music scene, and
contemporary culture.