Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum (and more)

Living in NYC comes with many perks - not the least of which is being able to see so many different works of art from just about every artist. Last week I visited the Brooklyn Museum...


to see the exhibit Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks



I have noticed from previous postings about Basquiat on my blog that many people love his work. And many do not. I find it utterly fascinating, endlessly compelling and thoroughly satisfying. I guess you can tell I fall into the group of lovers.

This exhibit was unique in that it focused on 8 notebooks that Basquiat created in the 1980s.


 He worked only on one side of each page and the works were exhibited as individually pages both framed on the wall...


and in low cases.


His notebook of choice seems to have been a basic composition book.




The exhibit also featured other work, including crayon drawings...


ink drawings...


collage...


and of course paintings.




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There were quite a few other interesting exhibits at the museum, including:

KAWS: ALONG THE WAY, an 18-foot high sculpture



and The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago.


8 comments:

Caterina Giglio said...

Lucky you on so many levels... to see it all in person, to share it with us and to be able to photograph it all to peruse again and again...

Jen Worden said...

In this age of people screaming for SIMPLICITY, Basquiat is kinda the antithesis of that ... definitely a More is More kinda dude! I find the final images frenetic and not sure I'd want to live with them. However, I totally adore their intent. Such freedom of expression. Such UNrestraint!

mmmm. Judy Chicago's Dinner Party. Someday!
As an aside... a group of us were going to do an altered book interpretation of that installation and the group leader contacted Chicago's "handlers" (for want of a better descriptor!) and they wanted nothing to do with it. Not even as a private endeavor. It rather took the sails out of the project and it died. Sad. I was really looking forward to delving into one of those women's lives!

Sharmon Davidson said...

It must be a wondrous thing to see Basquiat's notebooks...

Susan said...

Thanks for all the photos.

I had a chance last year to see many of his bigger canvases. If you dont really know his story its difficult to really appreciate the work. Its very child like and yet deeply intense. Dredged up out of his drug addiction im sure or, at least, from an addictive personality. Many disregard him and credit his work only to his friendships and relationships to artists like Warhol. The notebook pages look like you could stand and read them all day.

Thanks again for the art tour...

Susan

PocketSize said...

Very cool. Thanks for sharing what you got to see! I'm sure it's completely different to experience it in person. I LOVE that sculpture, too!

elle said...

Lucky you!

Kay Wallace said...

A lover here, too, Seth. Perhaps because he was so very comfortable with his own art. He was trying to impress no one--only attempting to get outside what was inside. Whether we appreciate this work or not, we can all learn something from it! Thanks for sharing your wonderful day with us!

Jackie PN said...

Yes indeed, lucky you to be able to visit so many fine shows of art and not have to travel 6 hours to do so!!
Thank you for sharing these Seth, exhibits, I might never have seen if not for your sharing!
I would love to see the "Dinner Party" up close one day! ")