In 1981 Jean-Michel Basquiat made the momentous transition from the street to the studio. He had attracted considerable attention with his Times Square Show the summer before, and reinforced that nascent notoriety with a wall of phenomenal works in Diego Cortez's New York/New Wave at P.S. 1, which opened the following winter. A few months later, the dealer Annina Nosei offered Basquiat an independent space in which to prepare work for her September group show, Public Address. He was only 20. Between the world of spray-painted poetry and what critic Peter Schjeldahl called "New York big-painting aesthetics" lies a fantastic coming-of-age: Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981: The Studio of the Street includes paintings and drawings on everything from note cards to sheet metal to a leather jacket and conventional canvas. In them, as throughout his career, Basquiat married an exuberant spontaneity and art-brut sensibility with a firm command of not only art materials but art history. He would go on to define the 80s Neo-Expressionist idiom, and to remain its most compelling representative. The Studio of the Street examines this charged point of contact in works that show the artist's progression from text to text-and-image, from found materials to traditional canvasses, and from pure drawing to his uniquely evocative hybrid of drawing and painting.

Reader Reviews

Peter

(5/5)

Apr 22, 2008

This book focuses on 1981, and includes great interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Diego Cortez, Arto Lindsey and others.

Katie

(4/5)

Aug 15, 2017

heartbreaking but necessary read.

reqbat

Aug 12, 2015

this is a wonderful collection of interviews about the period of 81-82, wonderful photos, stills from Downtown 81, shots of Gray plus flyers B made for their shows, and some great related art pieces.

Lumikki

Sep 08, 2014

lilya

Dec 01, 2007

Robert

Oct 22, 2015

Tessi

Jul 02, 2008

Laila

Nov 14, 2019

Alexis

Jan 13, 2016

Neil

Jul 15, 2012

Jhansi Kreimer

Sep 21, 2013

Kimberly

May 04, 2015

Hillary Marek

Feb 18, 2019

Felicia Torres

Feb 13, 2013

BoweryDoll

Sep 12, 2011

Alexander Flores

Feb 19, 2009

Haley

Feb 04, 2008

John

(3/5)

Feb 26, 2015

Elizabeth

Jan 09, 2015

R.Friend

Aug 04, 2007

Gordon Fischer

Mar 13, 2012

Sam

Oct 11, 2017

Raul

Mar 19, 2008

Genevieve

Jan 10, 2011

Petabyte

(0/5)

Aug 05, 2007

Felix Castro

Sep 06, 2007

Nascha

Feb 20, 2009

Gypsy Novela

Dec 17, 2009

Dana Jerman

Jan 04, 2010

Matt

Nov 15, 2010

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Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, the Studio of the Street

Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, the Studio of the Street

Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, the Studio of the Street

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