Report: Brant Foundation's Basquiat exhibit includes $110.5 million skull painting

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required!) checks in today with a preview on the inaugural exhibit at the Brant Foundation, 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... the one featuring Basquiat that starts next Wednesday...

To the Journal!

[Peter M.] Brant could have launched with a legacy show of his own trophy holdings, but he says the space’s proximity to Basquiat’s former stomping grounds compelled him to devote the opener to the neo-expressionist painter. Basquiat’s frenetic, poetic paintings of 1980s New York are getting more attention lately from both museums and the marketplace, with pieces selling at auction for as much as $110.5 million. That record-holder, an untitled skull painting from 1982 that’s owned by Japanese e-retailer Yusaku Maezawa, is in Brant’s show.

Other heavyweights include 1987’s Unbreakable, which has never been exhibited in New York, and 1983’s Hollywood Africans, which was lent by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Half of the show’s roughly 70 pieces have also come directly from a Basquiat survey that recently drew nearly 680,000 visitors to Paris’s Louis Vuitton Foundation. These works will now be intermingled with 16 pieces from the Brant foundation as well as loans from other collectors like Dan Loeb, John Phelan, Eli Broad and Dimitri Mavrommatis.

The Foundation says 50,000 people have already signed up online to get free tickets. The show runs through May 15.

Meanwhile, Andrew Russeth at artNews has thoughts on all this...

A formidable new arts space opening in the East Village is cause for celebration. But what happens after the Basquiat show comes down? If the foundation becomes a repository for blue-chip art and big names, for showing off trophies acquired over a lifetime of collecting, that would be a painful development for the cultural life of this city. New York already has plenty of spaces to see such things. Instead, my hope — as I wrote back in 2014 — is that the Brant Foundation and its brethren will be willing to experiment, and to partner with other local organizations, serving as a forum for art and artists and ideas that have not been welcomed elsewhere.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's how to reserve free tickets for the Basquiat exhibit opening next month at the Brant Foundation on 6th Street

Banners for the Brant Foundation's Basquiat exhibit

Noting the recent arrival of the banners on Sixth Street and Avenue A for the upcoming Basquiat show, the inaugural exhibit at the Brant Foundation, 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...



The exhibit, featuring works from the private collection of Peter Brant, starts March 4...





The free tix are all accounted for... but you can add your name to a waitlist.

The DOT allows for banners that "promote a public event or a cultural exhibit." Application info is here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's how to reserve free tickets for the Basquiat exhibit opening next month at the Brant Foundation on 6th Street

Here's how to reserve free tickets for the Basquiat exhibit opening next month at the Brant Foundation on 6th Street

[EVG photo from last summer]

Over the weekend, the Brant Foundation released ticket information for its debut exhibition at its new East Village home at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As previously reported, this inaugural show features the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat...



The tickets info came via an Instagram post...

View this post on Instagram

The Brant Foundation is pleased to celebrate the upcoming opening of its New York space, located at 421 East 6th Street, with an extensive survey of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat- reconnecting the East Village to a seminal figure of its past. Reserve your tickets today at brantfoundation.org! LINK IN BIO Tickets are free of charge and must be reserved in advance.

A post shared by thebrantfoundation (@thebrantfoundation) on Feb 8, 2019 at 10:00am PST

And this ticket link is here.

Tickets are free, and available starting March 6. The exhibit runs through May 15.

The Brant ticket site included these FAQs:

How can I see the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition?
The exhibition is on view and open to the public at The Brant Foundation’s East Village space. Timed tickets are available every 30 minutes and must be reserved online in advance.

How much do tickets cost?
Tickets are free of charge. Individuals under the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult.

Where and when should I arrive?
The entrance is located at 421 East 6th Street. Doors will open promptly at the time listed on your ticket and early entry is not permitted. Visitors who arrive more than 15 minutes past their ticketed time will be placed on the standby line for the next available time slot. Upon arrival, please have your ticket (printed or on a mobile device) readily available for check-in.

How long can I stay in the space?
In order to accommodate all of our visitors, we kindly ask that you do not spend more than 45 minutes viewing the exhibition.

Does my ticket include a docent led tour of the exhibition?
No, all visits are self-guided.

Here's more about the show, as reported by ARTnews, whose parent company is owned by Peter Brant, from this past September:

The inaugural show will be curated by the Brant Foundation’s founder, Peter Brant ... and art historian Dieter Buchhart. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Foundation Louis Vuitton, will include loans from Brant collections as well as international museums and other private collections.

Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27.

Brant reportedly began acquiring Basquiat's work shortly after being introduced to him by Andy Warhol in 1984. "Jean-Michel Basquiat is the quintessential Van Gogh figure of our time," Brant said in a 2013 interview. "He left with us a genius body of work."

Brant bought the building — a former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio — for $27 million in August 2014.

After renovations, the building now features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

Last week to see work by Al Diaz and SAMO© at the Same Old Gallery on Great Jones

The Same Old Gallery, curated by Adrian Wilson and Brian Shevlin, featuring an exhibit of old and new work by Al Diaz, ends its run at 57 Great Jones St. on Saturday evening.

Wilson was originally hopeful that he could use the space through the end of December.

As previously reported, the front part of No. 57 west of the Bowery had been sitting unused. The back of the building houses Bohemian, an exclusive (referral-only) Japanese restaurant. They will be expanding in January, and gave Wilson access to the space rent-free.

"Unfortunately, as the space was donated for free by the leaseholders, this was always going to be a temporary gallery," Wilson told me. "It was always guaranteed for Al's show, and I hoped they would then let me keep it open until they start renovation on January, but [the landlord] liked what we did so much they have rented the space for a Christmas market, selling gifts.

"It's kind of sad but also very perfect that the one and only exhibition there will be Al."


[Al Diaz and friends via Adrian Wilson]

Diaz, who grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D, started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

The gallery is inside the building once owned by Andy Warhol. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked here at the time of his death in 1988.





The gallery hours are from 2-7 p.m. through Saturday.

Meanwhile, you can listen to my recent podcast with Diaz right here (or download it for later)...

Same Old Gallery debuts tonight on Great Jones Street with Al Diaz and SAMO©

The Same Old Gallery, curated by Adrian Wilson and Brian Shevlin, opens this evening with an exhibit of old and new work by Al Diaz.


[Image via Instagram]

The gallery (first reported on here) is inside 57 Great Jones St., once owned by Andy Warhol. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked here just west of the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988.

Diaz grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. He started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

The front space at No. 57 was sitting unused. The back of the building houses Bohemian, an exclusive (referral-only) Japanese restaurant.

"They are expanding the Bohemian restaurant and very kindly donated the space to me to use as a gallery before construction starts in January," Wilson told me.

This initial exhibit features a selection of Diaz's work through the years ... as well as several archival items, such as a satirical story co-written and illustrated by Diaz and Basquiat published in the City-As-School newspaper in January 1978 that marked the start of SAMO©.

Diaz also invited several artists to help put their mark on the space...







The opening party is tonight from 7-10. The first show will be up through Oct. 20. The gallery hours are Tuesday-Sunday from 2-7 p.m. You can find the Same Old Gallery on Instagram here.

And you can listen to my recent podcast with Diaz right here (or download it for later)...



Thanks to Adrian Wilson for the photos!

The EVG podcast: Al Diaz on BOMB1, SAMO© and Basquiat

Artist Al Diaz joined me in the East Village Radio storefront studio on First Avenue for this EVG podcast.

Diaz grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. He started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

Some 40 years on Diaz remains active (check out his Instagram account here).

We covered a lot in 30 minutes, from the early days of graffiti in NYC to Sara Driver's recently released documentary, "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat," which features Diaz, to the return of SAMO© after Election 2016.

Take a listen... or download it for later...



His work will also be featured in a new gallery via Adrian Wilson coming to 57 Great Jones St. ... where Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988.



Al Diaz image via Instagram

Previously on EV Grieve:
The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin

The EVG podcast: Mike Katz and Crispin Kott on the "Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City."

The EVG podcast: A 'Vanishing New York' conversation with Jeremiah Moss

The EVG podcast: More hawk talk with Laura Goggin

On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

The Brant Foundation will make its debut on Sixth Street in March 2019 with an exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.



ARTnews, whose parent company is owned by Peter Brant, made the announcement yesterday.

The inaugural show will be curated by the Brant Foundation’s founder, Peter Brant ... and art historian Dieter Buchhart. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Foundation Louis Vuitton, will include loans from Brant collections as well as international museums and other private collections.

Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27. (He also lived for a year in 1979 in this East Village apartment, as you may recall.)

Brant reportedly began acquiring Basquiat's work shortly after being introduced to him by Andy Warhol in 1984. "Jean-Michel Basquiat is the quintessential Van Gogh figure of our time," Brant said in a 2013 interview. "He left with us a genius body of work."

The show opens on March 1 and will be on display through May 15. No word at the moment about about hours or admission. (The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich is open to the public by appointment and free of charge.)

As for the building, the Brant Foundation at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors.





Here's a recap from recent years:

Brant bought the building for $27 million in August 2014.

The gut renovations started in April 2016 at the former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio.

Brant's daughter Allison Brant oversees her father's contemporary art collection. This feature on her in the April 2017 issue of Town & Country reported:

Allison will also run this second space, which is in the East Village and will primarily be used to showcase the foundation's permanent collection. "So many artists my father collects have a connection to that neighborhood," she says.

And here are a few more photos from earlier this summer...









... and on the Seventh Street side...



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

The space for rent in the former Warhol-owned building where Basquiat last lived on Great Jones

[Photo from yesterday]

There have been several listings since last fall for space available to lease at 57 Great Jones St. just off the Bowery... a former stable that Andy Warhol owned. It was also where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988.

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death at age 27.

Also yesterday, as noted here, Basquiat's friend and SAMO© collaborator, Albert Diaz, along with Adrian Wilson, created this tribute yesterday outside No. 57...



As for the listing, it first arrived last fall, and has disappeared and reemerged several time since then, most recently in early August.

Per that listing, which is no longer active (no word on the asking rent):

The heart of NoHo, ground floor sublease opportunity till December 2022 or for short-term lease/pop-up this summer. Approximately 800 sqf including back office. Storage space on the basement upon request. Building formerly owned by Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked. Behind this space is a hidden restaurant by appointments from repeaters or referrals only.

Unique business concepts preferred but any kind of business considered. Ideal for gallery, retail, event space, ice cream shop, pastry shop and etc. Employees bathroom only.

Here's a look inside the space...


[Image via LoopNet]

The outside has long attracted a variety of street art...



In July 2016, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the building ... marking the site of Basquiat's home and studio from 1983 to 1988...

A new mural to mark the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death

[Photo by Curt Hoppe]

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Jean-Michel Basquiat's death.

To mark this occasion, his friend and SAMO© collaborator, Albert Diaz, along with Adrian Wilson, created a mural outside 57 Great Jones Street near the Bowery, where Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death. Basquiat was 27.

The mural reads: "I didn’t sign up to be used as a face for name brand crap."

In July 2016, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation, in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the building ... marking the site of Basquiat's home and studio from 1983 to 1988...

Howl! Happening's Basquiat exhibit extended through July 29

Howl! Happening's current exhibit, "Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat," was originally set to close after Sunday.

However, Howl! has announced that the group exhibition focusing on the artists and scene around Basquiat's teen-age, pre-fame years, has been extended through July 29. (Find more details here.)

"Zeitgeist" complements the recent theatrical release of Sara Driver’s documentary "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat." That film's run continues at the IFC Center over on Sixth Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Teenage fan club: Basquiat exhibit opens tonight at Howl! Happening

Teenage fan club: Basquiat exhibit opens tonight at Howl! Happening

[Image from 1979 by Robert Carrithers]

"Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat" opens this evening (6-8) at Howl! Happening, 6 E. First St. near the Bowery. Here are details via the EVG inbox...

Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project is pleased to announce "Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat," a group exhibition focusing on the artists and scene around Jean-Michel Basquiat's teen-aged, pre-fame years.

Curated by Howl! Happening, Sara Driver, Carlo McCormick, and Mary-Ann Monforton, "Zeitgeist" complements and amplifies the theatrical release of Sara Driver’s film "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat."

The period covered in the exhibition and film tells the story of Jean-Michel’s early work, peers, and creative community in gritty, pre-AIDS, downtown New York — before the rise of the 80s art and real-estate juggernaut.

Special events will include:

• A panel discussion featuring Alexis Adler, Felice Rosser, Lee Quiñones, Al Diaz, and more
• A screening of Howard Brookner's 1983 documentary "Burroughs: The Movie" from the Criterion Collection
• An evening of films featuring an experimental film by Basquiat’s bandmate Michael Holman, with a soundtrack by Gray, the band he and Basquiat formed; David Schmidlapp’s film of Walter Steding playing beneath the Brooklyn Bridge; and Paul Tschinkel’s film about New York/New Wave, curator Diego Cortez’s groundbreaking exhibition at PS1 in 1981
• A performance by Felice Rosser
• A special series of film screenings in collaboration with Anthology Film Archives

Find more details here. The exhibit is up through June 10.

"Boom for Real" opened back on Friday at the IFC Center.

A look at 'Boom For Real,' Basquiat's life pre-fame

"Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat" follows Basquiat's life pre-fame and how New York City, the times, the people and the movements surrounding him formed the artist he became. It opens in theaters on May 11. The trailer and poster for the film arrived in our inbox earlier today...

Using never-before-seen works, writings and photographs, director Sara Driver, who was part of the New York arts scene herself, worked closely and collaboratively with friends and other artists who emerged from that period: Jim Jarmusch, James Nares, Fab Five Freddy, Glenn O’Brien, Kenny Scharf, Lee Quinones, Patricia Field, Luc Sante and many others.

Drawing upon their memories and anecdotes, the film also uses period film footage, music and images to visually re-recreate the era, drawing a portrait of Jean-Michel and Downtown New York City — pre AIDS, President Reagan, the real estate and art booms – before anyone was motivated by money and ambition.

And here's the official trailer...

Art is what you can get away with

EVG regular Raquel Shapira bumped into Paris-based artist-illustrator Tomadee, who's in town for a few days... he brought three of these posters with him... he put one up in Bushwick and two in Manhattan, including here on Avenue A...

Classic tags uncovered at under-renovation Lafayette Street building

[Photo from July 2]

Workers have been converting the former women's shelter at 350 Lafayette at Bond into a luxury retail store.

During the exterior work, the workers uncovered a decades-old DONDI tag as well as a barely visible SAMO© tag ... graffiti blogger/photography Fresh Paint NYC first made the discovery...

For those that want to see an original DONDI tag it's located at Lafayette and Bond. Probably will be gone in a few hours. Also if you have laser beam eyes you can probably make out the SAMO©. #dondicia #dondiwhite @doctc5 @bkstreetart @marthacoopergram @12ozprophet @outlaw_arts @faustnewyork @massappeal @thelisaprojectnyc @boweryboogieuncapped @streetartnyc ✌🏻

A post shared by @freshpaintnyc on Aug 28, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

"If you don't sell your life, how do you buy back your survival? Down With Wage Slavery." -- Many layers of paint were removed from a building on Lafayette Street, revealing some historic graffiti. #streetphotography #graffiti #nycgraffiti #downwithwageslavery

A post shared by TheDustyRebel (@dustyrebel) on Aug 28, 2017 at 2:33pm PDT

As Mass Appeal noted, "By the time of his death at the age of 37 in 1998, DONDI had cemented his legacy as one of the greatest graffiti writers to ever come out of New York City."

As for 350 Lafayette, Aby Rosen bought the building in 2015 for $26 million. The Center of Urban Community Services was the operator of what DNAinfo described as "one of the city's most highly-regarded homeless shelters for 27 years." Rosen intends to sign a single luxury retailer for the space. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission OK'd the transformation of the landmarked space in February 2016.





Rosen did preserve the Sean “NEKST” Griffin tag during renovations at 190 Bowery.

Noted

This mattress and frame are on Ninth Street near Avenue A... someone wrote "all things free & clean" ... and then "once owned by Basquiat" ...



Thanks to Steven for the photos

Noted

Breaking News: Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting of a skull sold for $110.5 million at auctionhttps://t.co/JVJ6qKwB2L

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 19, 2017

A plaque now marks where Basquiat lived and worked on Great Jones Street

Last evening, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation, in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, unveiled a commemorative plaque outside 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery... marking the site of Jean-Michel Basquiat's home and studio from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988...

Shawn Chittle shared these photos from during (and after) the event...




[Phil Hartman of Two Boots with Lannyl Stephens of the GVSHP]









The artist was found dead here of a heroin overdose on Aug. 12, 1988. He was 27.

Off the Grid has more about Basquiat's life and work in the neighborhood here.