Local students help create a tribute to Basquiat at the 12C Outdoor Gallery

Photos by @galinskynow 

The 12C Outdoor Gallery has been coming back to life with the help of some local students.

Earlier this month, several artists, parents, and grammar school students went to work on a new mural on the corner of 12th Street and Avenue C. 

The piece is titled: "With Love from the LES to the Caribbean: In Memory of Jean-Michel Basquiat."

... and the final product...

The mural is a collaboration led by artists Savannah Zambrano and Andrea Amanda with students at P.S. 188 The Island School ... with the support of Loisaida Inc., Galinsky Coaching, Thrive Collective, Curated Concepts LLC, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

In early March, Brooklyn-based artist Danielle Mastrion finished the first mural outside the renovated building, paying tribute to Puerto Rican freedom fighter and spiritual luminary Pedro Albizu Campos. (Campos Plaza is directly across 12th Street.)

The 12C Outdoor Art Gallery previously featured a rotating batch of murals curated by Robert Galinsky. One constant throughout the years was the Gil Scott-Heron tribute that Chico created after the jazz poet, musician, and author died in 2011. 

Another pink-out at 57 Great Jones St.

Photos by Lola Sáenz 

Once again, someone slapped the exterior of 57 Great Jones St. with pink paint and once again rolled out the commemorative plaque for one-time resident Jean-Michel Basquiat...

This happened late last summer here between the Bowery and Lafayette. (We've been told the person who did this is obsessed with Basquiat, who lived and worked in the building once owned by Andy Warhol from 1983 to his death in 1988.)

Angelina Jolie opened Atelier Jolie here late last year... the space includes a cafe operated by Eat Offbeat featuring food "from around the world made by refugee chefs in NYC." (Try the baklava!)

Buffing out the Basquiat plaque on Great Jones

As previously reported, someone rollered over the two-level space at 57 Great Jones St. with pink paint, even defacing the memorial plaque for onetime tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. 

The incident motivated EVG regular Lola Sáenz to clean up the plaque. She made some progress, though she realized it would need to be professionally buffed out. 

Today, photographer-artist Adrian Wilson (via @plannedalism) was able to restore the plaque and make it legible once more here between the Bowery and Lafayette... 

Earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening in November inside the space. 

Vogue dropped a feature on Jolie and her new project earlier today.

Not so pretty in pink at 57 Great Jones St.

Back on Monday, we noted that someone rolled over the exterior at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette with pink paint.

Several media outlets picked up the story (and credited and linked to EVG) ... so thank you...

• Artnet News 

• Curbed 

• Hyperallergic 

• Bollyinside (!!!)

Anyway, the pink painter (whose identity is known) also defaced the memorial plaque for one-time tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. 

The incident motivated EVG regular Lola Sáenz to spend an hour on Friday trying to clean up the plaque and make some progress, though it will need to be professionally buffed out ... (see the top photo)...

As for the address ... earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall inside the space. 

Someone Barbified Basquiat's former space on Great Jones

Sometime in the past two days, someone rolled over all the art with pink paint at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette... even painting over the memorial plaque for onetime tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988...

Earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall inside the space. 

A tribute to Sinéad O'Connor on Great Jones

Top photo via EVG from July 15 

A few nights ago, someone did a somewhat half-assed job of buffing out the storefront at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

So last evening,  artist Adrian Wilson (under his @planndalism account) stopped by to fix the crown that he added earlier this month to the former home-studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat (thanks to EVG reader Uli for the photo below)...

While there, Wilson and Erin Ko added a tribute to Sinéad O'Connor after news of the singer-songwriter's death earlier in the day at age 56.

The wall now includes a quote from a 2014 interview with O'Connor: "If you live with the devil, you find out there’s a God."

As previously reported, Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space this fall for designers and artisans in the space here called Atelier Jolie. 

Thanks to Adrian for sharing the photos!

The Great Jones Crown Affair

The former home-studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat has (unofficially) been crowned on Great Jones between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

After news broke this past week that Angelina Jolie was opening a space from designers and other creators at 57 Great Jones St., artist Adrian Wilson (under his @planndalism account and with an assist from The Lisa Project NYC) paid tribute... adding an unsanctioned giant crown — an iconic symbol seen in Basquiat's work — to the two-level building's exterior...

There was another addition...

Wilson also cleaned the 7-year-old memorial plaque for Basquiat on the building. 

Jolie has reportedly said that she will leave the building's exterior as is when she moves her new enterprise into the space. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space for designers and artisans in Basquiat's former studio on Great Jones Street

Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space for designers and artisans in Basquiat's former studio on Great Jones Street

Angelina Jolie has announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall at a notable address — 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

The two-level building was once owned by Andy Warhol ... and Jean-Michel Basquiat was living and working in the second-floor studio at the time of his death in 1988. 

Jolie made the announcement on Instagram last night...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angelina Jolie (@angelinajolie)

This space had been on the rental market since last November. The back of the ground-floor space was home to Bohemian, an invite-only Japanese restaurant that provided some intrigue for food writers 10-plus years ago. (As we understand, Bohemian's parent company, Play Earth Inc., owns the building.) 

Atelier Jolie will serve as a workshop for under-represented tailors and designers who will then be able to showcase their work from 57 Great Jones.

Here's a more detail description of the business via the Atelier Jolie website: 

I am building a place for creative people to collaborate with a skilled and diverse family of expert tailors, pattern makers and artisans from around the world. A place to have fun. To create your own designs with freedom. To discover yourself. 

We will use only leftover, quality vintage material and deadstock. You will be able to repair or upcycle pieces from your closet you wish to revive, perfecting fit, breathing new life into what could have been thrown away, and creating quality heirloom garments with personal meaning. 

We hope to create a community of creativity and inspiration, regardless of socio-economic background. We will spotlight the people who play a part in each creation. We will bring together a diverse team, including apprenticeships for refugees and other talented, underappreciated groups, with positions of dignity based on skill. And as we work with global artisans and creators, we hope to help share the richness of their cultural heritage and support the development of their own businesses.

It's all new, and I'm more of an artist than a businesswoman. I hope to see you there, and to be one of the many creating with you within our new creative collective. 

Jolie's social media and website note the building's history: "A privilege to be in this space. We will do our best to respect and honor its artist legacy with community and creativity."

The building's façade has served as an ad-hoc memorial to Basquiat through the years. On the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death in 2018, his friend and SAMO© collaborator, Albert Diaz, along with Adrian Wilson, created a mural that read: "I didn’t sign up to be used as a face for name brand crap." (Wilson also curated a pop-up gallery here.) 

In February 2022, workers painted over all the tributes... though, the various wheatepastes and tags eventually made a comeback, as the top photo from this morning shows. Jolie will reportedly leave the building's exterior as is. 

You can read this post at Village Preservation for more history of the building, which once served as the HQ for Five Points Gang ringleader Paul Kelly.

Basquiat's former loft space on Great Jones is available for lease

The building at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette is now on the rental market...

The two-level building was once owned by Andy Warhol ... and Jean-Michel Basquiat was living and working in the second-floor studio at the time of his death in 1988.

Here are some particulars via the listing at Meridan Capital Group: 

• Historic full-building restaurant opportunity

• Previously owned by Andy Warhol and art studio/home of Jean-Michel Basquiat 

• Fully equipped restaurant space with venting & gas in place 

• Massive skylight in ground floor dining room 

• The lower level consists of 2 walk-in boxes, dry storage and office space 

• The second floor consists of open loft space with high ceilings and multiple skylights 

• All uses considered 

The back of the ground-floor space had been home to Bohemian, an invite-only Japanese restaurant that provided some intrigue for food writers 10-plus years back. (As we understand, Bohemian's parent company, Play Earth Inc., owns the building.) 

In July 2016, Village Preservation, in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark Basquiat's time here from 1983-1988.

The building's façade served as an ad-hoc memorial to Basquiat through the years. As we first reported back in February, workers painted over all the tributes... though, as the top photo on this post shows, the tags are making a comeback. 

You can read this post at Village Preservation for more history of the building, which once served as the HQ for Five Points Gang ringleader Paul Kelly.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Tribute-filled façade of former Basquiat studio painted over on Great Jones

Tribute-filled façade of former Basquiat studio painted over on Great Jones

The façade at 57 Great Jones St. was painted over this past week, wiping out the layers of artwork — some of which paid tribute to one-time resident Jean-Michel Basquiat.

In December 2020, artist-photographer Adrian Wilson (under his now-retired @plannedalism moniker) painted "Let Us Spray" here between the Bowery and Lafayette where Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27.

The two-story building, once owned by Andy Warhol, now houses Bohemian, an upscale Japanese restaurant ... their curbside dining space included a message by Al Diaz, who, as a teen in the late 1970s, collaborated with Basquiat on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©. (The curbside structure's message was covered as well.)

It's not known at the moment who had this painted over. Perhaps there are plans for a new mural? Bohemian didn't respond to a request for comment.

In the fall of 2018, Wilson helped curate the Same Old Gallery, an exhibit that featured Diaz's work. The two also collaborated on a mural here to mark the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death in August 2018.

In July 2016, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (now Village Preservation) unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the building. (The plaque is now splattered with paint — it doesn't appear as if workers covered it.)

One tag remains below the plaque... likely added after the whiteout...

Updated 

Here's a better view of the exterior from last year... thank you to @catscoffeecreativity for sharing this photo...

Updated:

A reader shared this photo of the big paint over, which took place the previous weekend...

Wednesday's parting shot of a Basquiat painting that just sold for $93.1 million

Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting titled In This Case sold for $93.1 million last night at Christie's. 

The record price paid for a Basquiat at auction came in 2017 when another painting of a skull sold to the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for $110.5 million. 

As for last night, Bloomberg provides the play-by-play...

As the lot opened up to a salesroom populated exclusively by cameras and auction house specialists, Gemma Sudlow, a senior vice president at Christie's who was leading the auction, opened bidding at $40 million, and quickly brought its price to $52 million.

And...

Soon, six bidders began to vie for the work, slowly pushing its price in increments ranging from $1 million to $3 million. After about six minutes of bidding, the nearly 6.5 foot-high (2 meters) painting hammered at $81 million. Auction house fees payable by the buyer added on another $12 million.

And...

The painting was last purchased publicly in 2002, when it sold at Sotheby’s for just under $1 million. It then sold privately in 2007 for an undisclosed sum. The seller on Tuesday night, according to reports, was former Valentino chairman Giancarlo Giammetti; the buyer was not immediately known.

Basquiat died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at his home-studio at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. He was 27.

Image via Christie's