‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure' Will Celebrate the Legacy & Works of Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s family has announced a ticket presale for Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure this Wednesday, December 22, 2021, in celebration of Basquiat’s birthday. Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure will feature over 200 never before and rarely seen paintings, drawings, and artifacts to give an intimate glimpse of the life Basquiat told by his family.
The family has also announced that award-winning architect David Adjaye OBE is the exhibition’s designer. He is the founder of Adjaye Associates, which operates internationally, and designed The National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC. Additionally, the exhibition’s motif has been created by Abbott Miller of visionary design firm Pentagram. Miller previously collaborated with cultural clients, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Museum. In conjunction with the exhibition, Rizzoli Electa will release the accompanying book, also titled Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure.
Basquiat's sister, Jeanine Heriveaux, said in a press statement, “This exhibition showcasing the man behind the icon has been years in the making, from the initial idea in 2017 around the 30th anniversary of Jean-Michel’s passing to now. There’s been many exhibitions of Jean-Michel’s work, but never told from the perspective of the family – Jean-Michel as a child, a man, a son, and a brother. As we were all in lockdown, we said: ‘Maybe now is the right time.’”
The exhibition will be divided into seven themes:
The 1960 - Introduction section introduces audiences to Jean-Michel Basquiat, his family, and his heritage with several self-portraits on display.
Kings County will provide an overview of Basquiat’s childhood in Brooklyn and Puerto Rico. It will include works by Basquiat, including newsletters from City-as-School, sketchbooks, personal notes and effects, home movies, interviews with family members, early drawings, and sculptures.
The World Famous portion of the exhibition details Basquiat’s early success and includes paintings and other ephemera.
Ideal will feature the iconic 57 Great Jones Street Studio (August 1983). Basquiat’s Great Jones Street studio will be recreated and include paintings, drawings, sketches, and Basquiat’s furniture, bicycle, alongside videotape and book collections.
The Art Gallery will consist of several thematically arranged galleries with approximately 100 paintings and drawings. All works are owned by the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate, comprised chiefly of never-before-seen art.
In 1985, Basquiat created two paintings, Nu-Nile and Untitled, for iconic NYC nightclub Palladium’s VIP area, the Michael Todd Room. Thus, the Palladium exhibition will recreate this space, including video and soundtrack.
Place Jean-Michel Basquiat is a gallery that will contain oral histories from members of his family and a close circle of friends as well as posthumous awards and exhibitions.
“We wanted to bring his work and personality forward, in a way only his family can, for people to immerse themselves in. We want this to be a multi-dimensional celebration of Jean-Michel's life,” Lisane Basquiat, sister of Jean-Michel, said in a press statement.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure opens on April 9, 2022, at the Starrett-Lehigh building in Manhattan, New York. The presale for the opening weeks of the exhibition will be accessible to all those who sign up to the exhibition’s mailing list.
