Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains

Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains : Vue d'installation de l'exposition Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains    Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains : Vue d'installation de l'exposition Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains    Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains : Vue d'installation de l'exposition Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains    Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains : Vue d'installation de l'exposition Basquiat x Warhol : à quatre mains   


The exhibition


Abandoning his age-old silkscreen process, Warhol took up his brushes and used an episcope to project his hazy drawing and flashy colors onto the canvas. Pushing the formats in the American way, he encouraged Basquiat to cover and saturate larger and larger surfaces - up to the ten meter long African masks, which Andy considered their "African masterpiece". While the collaboration was effortless, it was not without its clouds. "Jean-Michel came to the office to paint but he fell asleep on the floor, he looked like a bum," notes Warhol. Before adding: "I woke him up, he made two great masterpieces. He himself seems to be short of breath, content to multiply ad infinitum the logos of General Electric or Arm § Hammer with newspaper headlines. In wanting to do things in a big way, the Fondation Vuitton has undoubtedly seen too much in its desire for rehabilitation and drowns the visitor under an abundance of mechanical repetitions, which only the accents of a raging Basquiat save from insignificance. The rare, exceptional pieces are all the more upsetting, such as the sober Olympic Rings, where a black face obstructs one of the rings as a protest after the Los Angeles Olympics in the summer of 1984. Or the Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper), where the sweet face of Leonardo's Christ, repeated by the very Catholic Warhol, is struck by the word "Judge" painted as a sharp commentary by a voodooing Basquiat. The press cut short this romance and Andy's somewhat vain wish to "not know who did what" by criticizing their joint exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery, where the two challengers were displayed in boxer's outfits. The New York Times wrote, "This collaboration has all the hallmarks of a Warhol manipulation, with Basquiat as a prop." While only one painting sold (out of the 15 presented), Jean-Michel, feeling used, killed the father by cutting ties with Andy.

Extract of the article by Emmanuel Daydé published in the N°106 of the magazine Art Absolument. Published on May 17, 2023


When


05/04/2023 - 28/08/2023
 Go back     |      Back on the top