The present publication is dedicated to the expressive self-portraits by Jean-Michel Basquiat and covers his lifelong intensive study of the self. In Basquiat’s œuvre the self-portrait, one of the major subjects of art history, occupies a central position that has not been examined to date.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s self-portraits are regarded as being among the most important of his radical creative works. In addition to some 50 specific portraits of himself, we can also see his series of likenesses of African-American men as concealed reproductions of the artist. Not least because Basquiat, who was affected himself by everyday racism, identified with his heroes, saints and martyrs as he portrayed them. Thus his major topics from identity, discrimination and prejudice to capitalism, the market and oppression are all to be found in these key works.

Jean-Michel Basquiat | Xerox is the first concentrated examination of the extraordinary body of work that the artist created using Xerox copies as his principal medium and compositional focal point.

These immersive, collaged Xerox paintings epitomize Basquiat’s extraordinary capacity for visual language. Their raw, allover compositions incorporate recycled and transformed signs and markings from the artist’s everyday experiences ― including motifs from his earlier artworks. The intricate web of content in this series presages the copy-paste sampling characteristic of the subsequent Internet and post-Internet generations, positioning Basquiat as a pioneer of the pre-digital age.

The first book on the drawings and works on paper of this legendary cult artist.

Published on the occasion of an exhibition of the same name, Jean-Michel Basquiat Drawing is the first book on the Schorr Collection of Basquiat’s works on paper. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was barely out of his teens when he rocketed to the center of New York’s art scene; he was 27 when he died of a heroin overdose. A friend of Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, and always controversial, Basquiat is now established as a major contemporary painter whose unique work continues to enthral. Herbert and Lenore Schorr began collecting the work of Basquiat in 1981, before his first New York exhibition.

During the artist’s seminal years of 1982–83, the Schorrs acquired several of his most important paintings, but in contrast to virtually every other early collector, the Schorrs also pursued and acquired a great number of works on paper both directly from the artist and from his first dealer. Their collection demonstrates the focus and ambition that the artist invested in the medium of drawing.

About the Author:

Fred Hoffman met Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982 and worked closely with him during the artist’s residency in Venice, California, from 1982 to 1984. He cocurated Basquiat’s retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in 2005. Hoffman is the Ahmanson Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Portraits of the Artists. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat

Produced in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s estate, this book explores the artists’ complex personal and professional relationship through hundreds of never-before-published photographs of Basquiat by Warhol, excerpts from the legendary Andy Warhol Diaries, rarely seen archival material and examples of their collaborative artworks.

Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s complex relationship captivated the art world then and now. At a time when Warhol was already world-famous and the elder statesman of New York cool, Basquiat was a downtown talent rising rapidly from the graffiti scene. Together, they forged an electrifying personal and professional partnership.

As a prolific documentarian of his own world, Warhol extensively photographed and wrote of his friendship with Basquiat, all played against the backdrop of 1980s downtown New York City. It reveals not only the emotional depth of their relationship but also its ambiguities, extremities, and complexities.

Produced in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s estate, this book chronicles the duo’s relationship in hundreds of previously unpublished photographs of Basquiat along with a dynamic cast of characters from Madonna to Grace Jones, Keith Haring to Fela Kuti. The shots are accompanied by entries from the legendary Andy Warhol Diaries, selected collaborative artworks, and extensive ephemera. Touching, intimate, and occasionally sardonic, Warhol on Basquiat is a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of two of modern art’s brightest stars.

The editor:

Michael Dayton Hermann received his MFA from Hunter College where he studied art theory with conceptual artist Robert Morris. In addition to his practice as a multidisciplinary artist, Hermann has been the Director of Licensing at The Andy Warhol Foundation since 2005, where he developed notable high-profile Warhol projects including collaborations with Calvin Klein, Dior, Comme des Garçons, Supreme, Absolut, and Perrier. He has also worked closely with TASCHEN on two publications he conceived: Andy Warhol: Polaroids 1958–1987 and Andy Warhol: Seven Illustrated Books 1952–1959.

From the collection of The Andy Warhol Foundation

Since its founding in 1987 in accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, The Andy Warhol Foundation has established itself among the leading funders of contemporary art in the United States having distributed over $ 200 million in cash grants supporting the creation, presentation, and documentation of contemporary visual arts, particularly work that is experimental, under-recognized, or challenging in nature. The foundation’s ongoing efforts to protect and enhance its founder’s creative legacy ensure that Warhol’s inventive, open-minded spirit will have a profound impact on the visual arts for generations to come.

The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat is as strong as ever.

Synonymous with New York in the 1980s, the artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag name SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city. He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world.

As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world. Basquiat's expressive style was based on raw figures and integrated words and phrases.

His work is inspired by a pantheon of luminaries from jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street life-so when asked about his subject matter, Basquiat answered "royalty, heroism and the streets." In 1983 he started collaborating with the most famous of art stars, Andy Warhol, and in 1985 was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. When Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time.

This book allows an unprecedented insight into Basquiat's art, with pristine reproductions of his most seminal paintings, drawings, and notebook sketches.

In large-scale format, the book offers vivid proximity to the artist's intricate marks and scribbled words, further illuminated by texts from writer and curator Carlo McCormick, a contemporary of Basquiat's on the New York scene, and curator and art historian Eleanor Nairne.

Richly illustrated year-by-year chapter breaks follow the artist's life and quote from his own statements and contemporary reviews to provide both personal background and historical context.

The editor:

Hans Werner Holzwarth is a book designer and editor specializing in contemporary art and photography. His TASCHEN publications include Collector’s Editions like Jeff Koons, Christopher Wool, Albert Oehlen, Ai Weiwei, and the David Hockney SUMO A Bigger Book, as well as monographs like the XXL-sized Jean-Michel Basquiat and survey books such as Modern Art and Art Now! Vols 3 and 4.

The author:

Eleanor Nairne is a curator at the Barbican Art Gallery. She has worked on a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions and publications, including Basquiat: Boom for Real (2017) and Imran Qureshi: Where the Shadows are so Deep (2016). Prior to the Barbican, she was curator of the Artangel Collection at Tate. She is a regular catalogue essayist, a writer for frieze, and a previous Jerwood Writer in Residence.

Basquiat first came to prominence when he collaborated with Al Diaz to spray-paint enigmatic statements under the pseudonym SAMO©. He went on to work on collages, Xerox art, postcards, performances, and music before establishing his reputation as one of the most important painters of his generation.

Accompanying a major exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery, this book opens with introductory essays from the curators, which place his practice in a wider art historical context and look at his career through the lens of performance. Six thematic chapters offer new research, with essays from poet Christian Campbell on SAMO©; curator Carlo McCormick on New York / New Wave; writer Glenn O’Brien on the downtown scene; academic Jordana Moore Saggese on Basquiat’s relationship to film and television; and music scholar Francesco Martinelli on Basquiat’s obsession with jazz.

This insightful new survey also features extended captions, rare archival material, and extensive photography, demonstrating how Basquiat’s legacy remains more powerful and relevant than ever today.

About the Author:

Dieter Buchhart is an art critic for Kunstforum International and the author of Keith Haring: The Political Line

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Пролистать книгу Basquiat: Boom for Real

From his early years spray painting the walls of lower Manhattan to his first solo show in 1982 and his untimely death at the age of 27 in 1988, Jean-Michel Basquiat has become a symbol of the 1980s New York art scene

Now, more than a quarter-century since his death, this book considers Basquiat’s works in light of their transformative power. Exquisitely reproduced full-page color illustrations of his paintings cover the full thematic range of Basquiat’s work. From the autobiographical elements of "Untitled" (1981) and the powerful critique of racial justice that is "Irony of a Negro Policeman" to an exploration of black heroes, "Untitled" (1982) and the tongue-in-cheek social commentary of "A Panel of Experts", Basquiat’s limitless palette of observation, criticism, and cultural references endows his art with lasting and provocative power. Author Dieter Buchhart explores how Basquiat’s success paved the way for an entire generation of black artists and how street culture has spread into popular culture. Texts by curators, art dealers, and cultural critics discuss the significance of Basquiat’s oeuvre and show how his approach and subject matter continue to influence artists around the world.

This book is published by DelMonico Books in association with the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

The outsider inside. From the streets to the galleries: the artist who turned the institution upside down

From the streets of New York to the walls of its most prominent galleries, young graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was catapulted to international fame in his early 20s and died of a drug overdose at 27. The subject of a feature film by fellow artist Julian Schnabel, Basquiat is one of the most admired artists to emerge from the 1980s art boom. This book explores his short but prolific career.

About the Series:

Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
- approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
- a concise biography