Basquiat's Polyphonic Cartographies at Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris hosted Jean-Michel Basquiat's inaugural retrospective in a Paris museum from October 15, 2010, to January 30, 2011, coinciding with his 50th birthday. This exhibition highlighted Basquiat's unique fusion of urban counterculture, Afro-American mythology, and hip-hop vibrancy. Emerging in New York during the early 1980s, his art drew from comics, advertising, and graffiti, with his Caribbean roots shaping his perspective and New York enhancing this cultural 'creolization.' The early SAMO© tags he created with Al Diaz (1977-1980) featured poetic lines. The exhibition presented over 100 pieces, showcasing his ascent to prominence and his participation in Documenta 7 at just 21. It also featured Tamra Davis's film, 'Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child,' which debuted in September 2010.
Key facts
- First Basquiat retrospective in a Paris museum, at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, from Oct 15, 2010 to Jan 30, 2011.
- Marked the 50th anniversary of Basquiat's birth.
- Basquiat's father was from Port-au-Prince, Haiti; mother of Puerto Rican descent.
- SAMO© tags created with Al Diaz from 1977 to 1980 in SoHo.
- Basquiat formed the band Gray in 1979 with Michael Holman, Shannon Dawson, and Vincent Gallo.
- He participated in the 1983 hip-hop album 'Beat Bop'.
- Invited to Documenta 7 in Kassel at age 21.
- David Bowie wrote about Basquiat in 1996, calling his work 'rock'n'roll'.
- Film 'Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child' by Tamra Davis premiered at Deauville in Sept 2010, released Oct 13.
- Curator Bernard Marcadé authored a biography of Marcel Duchamp.
Entities
Artists
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Andy Warhol
- Charlie Parker
- Miles Davis
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Max Roach
- Louis Armstrong
- Billie Holliday
- Nat King Cole
- Sugar Ray Robinson
- Hank Aaron
- Jackie Robinson
- Jersey Joe Walcott
- Joe Louis
- Cassius Clay
- Jesse Owens
- Langston Hughes
- Marcus Garvey
- Malcolm X
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Cy Twombly
- Jean Dubuffet
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Jack London
- John Steinbeck
- Jack Kerouac
- Woody Guthrie
- John Lee Hooker
- Bob Dylan
- Henry Dreyfuss
- David Bowie
- Al Diaz
- Michael Holman
- Shannon Dawson
- Vincent Gallo
- Tamra Davis
- Bernard Marcadé
- Henry Geldzahler
- René Ricard
- Greg Tate
- Franklin Sirmans
- Richard D. Marshall
- Frédéric Valabrègue
- Demosthenes Davvetas
- Jerry Siegel
- Joe Shuster
- Édouard Glissant
- Antonin Artaud
- William S. Burroughs
- Marcel Duchamp
Institutions
- Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- Documenta 7
- City As School
- Interview Magazine
- Artforum
- Modern Painters
- Libération
- Flammarion
- Galerie Enrico Navarra
- Réunion des musées nationaux
- Musées de Marseille
- Deauville American Film Festival
Locations
- New York
- Brooklyn
- SoHo
- Manhattan
- West Village
- Harlem
- South Bronx
- Port-au-Prince
- Haiti
- Puerto Rico
- Africa
- Naples
- Florence
- Hollywood
- Cuba
- Nile Valley
- Mississippi Delta
- Kassel
- Paris
- Deauville
- France
- United States
- Berlin
Sources
- artpress —