Basquiat's 'Defacement' at Guggenheim New York

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York has opened 'Defacement: The Untold Story,' an exhibition dedicated to Jean-Michel Basquiat, curated by Chaédria LaBouvier. The show runs until November 6, 2019, and takes its title from Basquiat's 1983 work 'The Death of Michael Stewart' (also known as 'Defacement'), painted on a wall of Keith Haring's studio. The work memorializes Michael Stewart, an African American street artist who died after being beaten by New York police while tagging a subway wall. The exhibition emphasizes the social and political aspects of Basquiat's work through the lens of his identity as a Black artist, featuring about twenty paintings and works on paper by Basquiat and his contemporaries, alongside archival documents related to Stewart's case.