New York, 1980. Graffiti had just swept away the austerity of a decade of conceptual and minimal art. On 860 Broadway, the Factory of Andy Warhol (1928-1987) remains the vibrant hub of Downtown Manhattan's underground cultural scene. In his maturity, the Pope of Pop established himself as the godfather of the emerging generation. The sounds and choppy phrasing of nascent hip-hop and rap seemed to respond to the brushstrokes and rhythmic scansions of the figures sketched by the young Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988). After having covered the walls of SoHo with graffiti signed SAMO© by his acolyte Al Diaz, Basquiat has just exhibited his paintings in a group show, "The Times Square Show".
Between 1984 and 1985, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) and Andy Warhol (1928-1987) produced some 160 paintings "four-handed", including some of the largest formats of their respective careers. Keith Haring (1958-1990), who witnessed their friendship and joint production, spoke of a "conversation that happened through paint, instead of words", and of two minds merging to create a "third, independent and unique" one.
"I draw first, and then I paint in Jean-Michel's way. I think the paintings we do together are better when you don't know who did what." - Andy Warhol
The exhibition initiates a dialogue of styles and forms, addressing such crucial issues as the place of the African-American community in the North American cultural narrative, a continent of which Warhol was one of the great makers of icons and symbols. Bringing together over 100 paintings jointly signed by the two artists, the exhibition also features personal works by each of them and other major figures of the period, to capture the energy of the New York downtown art scene of the 1980s.
