Basquiat’s Defacement: The Untold Story - Softcover

Chaedria LaBouvier; Johanna F. Almiron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0892075481 ISBN 13: 9780892075485

Publisher: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2019

Synopsis

An exploration of a formative chapter in Basquiat’s brief career through the lens of his identity and the role of cultural activism in New York City during the early years of the 1980s

Jean-Michel Basquiat painted Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart) in 1983 to commemorate the death of a young, black artist who died from injuries sustained while in police custody after being arrested for allegedly tagging a New York City subway station. Published to accompany a focused exhibition of Basquiat’s response to anti-black racism and police brutality, this catalogue explores a chapter in the artist’s career through both the lens of his identity and the Lower East Side as a nexus of activism in the early 1980s.

With an introduction by Chaédria LaBouvier, Nancy Spector, and Joan Young, and an essay by Johanna F. Almiron are supplemented by commentary from artists, activists, and other cultural figures who were part of this episode in the city’s history, which invokes today’s urgent conversations about state-sanctioned racism. Ephemera related to Stewart’s death, including newspaper clippings and protest posters, and samples of artwork from Stewart’s estate are also featured along with paintings and prints made by other artists from Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, David Hammons, in response to Stewart’s death.

About this title

About the Author

Chaédria LaBouvier is a scholar and writer who has explored Basquiat’s Defacement in great depth. Johanna F. Almiron is an interdisciplinary cultural studies scholar and Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

From the Back Cover

An exploration of a formative chapter in Basquiat’s brief career through the lens of his identity and the role of cultural activism in New York City during the early years of the 1980s

Jean-Michel Basquiat painted Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart) in 1983 to protest the murder of a young, black artist by the New York City transit police for the alleged infraction of tagging a subway station wall. Published to accompany a focused exhibition of Basquiat’s response to anti-black racism and police brutality, this catalogue explores a chapter in the artist’s career through both the lens of his identity and the Lower East Side as a nexus of activism in the early 1980s.

Essays by Chaédria LaBouvier and Johanna F. Almiron are supplemented by commentary from artists, activists and other cultural figures who were part of this episode in the city’s history, which invokes today’s urgent conversations about statesanctioned racism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Guggenheim Museum Publications
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892075481
• ISBN 13: 9780892075485
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168