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To
Repel Ghosts
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After
the death of SAMO, Jean-Michel spends his time painting t-shirts and
making postcards selling them in the Washington square park area.
He even sells some postcards to Andy
Warhol an artist he is fascinated with and who would later become
one of Jean-Michel closest friends. Next, Basquait's art is exhibited
for the first time in the "Times Square Show", a group exhibition.
For it he creates a large SAMO installation on a single wall of the
space. The show is a success and Basquait's work is discussed in the
review for Art in America. Soon he forms a band with friends Michael
Holman, Shannon Dawson, Vincent
Gallo, Wayne Clifford and Nick Taylor. He names the band Gray,
possibly a reference to Gray's Anatomy. He quickly becomes part of
the downtown club scene meeting artists such as Keith
Haring and Kenny Scharf.
He frequents Club 57 and the Mudd Club and meets a variety of artists
and filmmakers. One person he meets is Glenn O'Brien who selects Basquait
as a subject in his film New York Beat. The film was to focus on the
downtown art scene and on Basquait himself. However, the film was
never released. |
| Basquait
uses the money he receives from the film to but art supplies at Pearl
Paint on Canal Street and begins painting seriously for the first
time. Shortly thereafter he is included in an exhibition at P.S. 1
Institute for Art and Urban Resources in Long Island City. Basquait
installs more than twenty drawings and paintings, which attract the
attention of art dealers Emilio Mazzoli, Bruno Bischofberger and Annina
Nosei. After a couple of other group exhibitions, Basquait has his
first one-man exhibition at the Galleria d'Arte Emilio Mazzoli in
Modena, Italy. The work is shown under the name SAMO. After returning
to the US Annina Nosei invites Jean-Michel to participate in a group
show at her gallery, which would feature sociopolitical content. The
show included Bill Beckly, Mike Glier, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer,
Barbara
Kruger, and Peter Nadin. After the exhibition Annina Nosei becomes
Jean-Michel's first primary art dealer. He uses the basement of her
gallery as a studio. |
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After
Annina Nosei becomes Jean-Michel's primary dealer, he participates
in a number of group and one-man shows inside and outside the US.
He travels to Los Angeles for a solo show at the
Gagosian Gallery. He loves Los Angeles and makes it a point
to visit there at least two or three times a year for the rest of
his life. From there he participates in a show in West Germany where
he is the youngest of 176 artists to participate. He is there with
established artists such as Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, A.R. Penck,
Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol. In September Jean-Michel
has his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Bruno Bishofberger
in Zurich. This is the first exhibition of the exposed crossbar
paintings Jean-Michel begins doing.
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Jawbone
Of An Ass 1982
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1982 the
relationship between Basquait and Annina Nosei becomes strained because
of personal differences. By this time he has a studio apartment on
Crosby Street that Nosei provided for him. The rent was to be paid
for by the paintings Basquait was doing. In 1981 when Jean-Michel
first started working in Annina Nosei's basement his paintings were
selling for $5000 to $10,000 a piece. People were asking for work
that wasn't even completed yet. Jean-Michel was working feverishly
to satisfy the patrons who came to the basement to watch him work
doing two or three paintings a day. He began complaining about how
he was being exploited and used. However, he always needed money to
support the serious drug problem he had developed. But when Nosei
would sell his paintings he would get upset. This pattern of behavior
continued until the summer of 1982 when Basquait violently ended the
three-year relationship with Nosei by showing up at her gallery armed
with a switchblade. He proceeds to the basement and began slashing
and destroying all the work he had done for Annina. |
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Unhappy about the split from Annina, Basquait
accepts an invitation from Bruno Bishofberger to have a one-artist
show in his gallery in Zurich. Bishofberger then become Jean-Michel's
international dealer. Bishofberger provided an advantage for Basquait
in that he was able to introduce him to his idol Andy Warhol. Andy
remembers Basquait as this street kid who used to sell him paintings
for a dollar. However, after trading paintings a practice Bishofberger
requested of Andy he realizes that he is a rising star of the art
world. At this point Basquait's paintings were selling for $20,000
in Düesseldorf and Zurich. In November, Basquait has a one-artist
exhibition at the Fun Gallery which proves to be one of his best shows.
In March of 1983 Basquait is included in the 1983 Biennial Exhibition
at the Whitney Museum of AmericanArt.
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| Art
in New York. At age 22 he is the youngest artist to be included in
the Biennial. At this time the relationship between Basquiat and Andy
Warhol begins to flourish. In August Andy leases a studio apartment
to Jean-Michel and becomes a friend, mentor and surrogate father to
Basquait. They are frequently seen together working out, painting,
and attending art events. Andy also becomes influential in helping
Jean-Michel deal with his personal problems with family and drug addiction.
After a couple of shows abroad, Basquait return to New York and begins
working on collaboration with Warhol and Francesco Clemente. They
work on about fifteen paintings together. By the end of the year Basquait
is having problems with Bruno Bishofberger. Problems with dealers
is one of the things he becomes noted for throughout his career. He
is without a New York dealer and is reluctant to become involved with
one. However he joins the Mary Boone Gallery and has his first show
in May of 1984. Mary Boone and Bruno Bishofberger are Basquait's primary
dealers. Later in the year Basquait is invited to participate in the
exhibition "since the Harlem Renaissance: 50 years of Afro-American
Art even though he has not really been accepted by the small community
of African-American artists. The show includes graffiti artists Blade,
Dondi, and Futura 2000, self-taught artists William Hawkings and Bill
Traylor and other notable artists such as Romare
Bearden, Elizabeth
Catlett, Betye Saar ,Alison
Saar and Jacob Lawrence.
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