Basquiat's musical and cinematic connections explored in Frankfurt exhibition

The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, in collaboration with the Barbican Centre in London, presents the first exhibition focused on Jean-Michel Basquiat's engagement with music, film, and television. Basquiat (1960–1988) was deeply embedded in New York's 1970s and 80s music scene, performing as a DJ and clarinetist at the Mudd Club with his experimental band Gray, named after Gray's Anatomy. The band included actor Vincent Gallo, performance artist Michael Holman, Wayne Clifford, Nick Taylor, and Shannon Dowson. He collaborated with Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, acted in the film New York Beat alongside Blondie's Debbie Harry, created murals and installations for nightclubs like Area and Palladium, and produced the 1983 hip-hop track Beat Bop with K-Rob and Rammellzee. The exhibition, titled "Basquiat. Boom for Real," runs until May 27, 2018, and features over 100 works, including previously unseen research, documents, and texts. It is Basquiat's first solo show in a German public collection in over 30 years.