| Portrait of the artist as a young street urchin: Jean-Michel Basquiat and Nicholas Taylor profile
By
Patrick Sawers
Biographers have called Jean-Michel Basquiat “the Jimi Hendrix of the art world.” His meteoric rise to fame took him from the streets of Brooklyn to the most distinguished art galleries in Lower Manhattan. By the time of his death of a drug overdose at age 27, Basquiat had dominated the ‘80s art world , gaining recognition among art critics as the first black painter of any importance . Though the majority of his paintings are stored in private collections and in New York City galleries, a photo exhibit currently on display at Niagara University's Castellani Art Museum is giving Buffalo a look at the artist in his prime .
“Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait” is a collection of photos and text panels by longtime acquaintance Nicholas Taylor . Taken just before Basquiat's escalation to stardom, the black and white shots of the artist capture the vibrant energy he would later translate to canvas. The exhibit is touring the country for the first time in its entirety, and is on display at the Castellani through May 31.
“Ultimately, this exhibition is an exploration of Jean-Michel Basquiat as a person who became one of the most prolific artists of our century,” Michael Beam, curator of exhibitions and collections at the Castellani , wrote in a prepared text. The Castellani owns a Basquiat original, “Jimmy Olsen,” which is also on display.
Nicholas Taylor met Basquiat in January 1979 at a New York art-rock venue called the Mudd Club. The Mudd Club, according to Beam, was “a beehive of creativity, where the likes of Fab Five Freddy, David Byrne, Keith Haring and Madonna frequented before they became famous.”
Basquiat was just 19 at the time and effectively homeless. He had already achieved a certain degree of notoriety by punctuating SoHo and TriBeCa with his distinctive graffiti (crediting himself as SAMO, Basquiat etched out cryptic phrases on public property), and was spending his nights at the Mudd Club until the sun came up. Taylor shot a roll of film that night capturing the artist alone and unspoiled by the excesses of fame that were to come.
In the meantime, the two performed in an experimental musical group called Gray, along with Michael Holman, Wayne Clifford and another Mudd Club regular, Buffalo native Vincent Gallo.
“We were an art-noise ensemble,” said Taylor, the band's guitarist. “Jean was kind of the leader and poet of the group.”
But the band lasted only about a year, as Basquiat's creative impulses again shifted, this time toward the visual arts. Working occasionally from Taylor's apartment, the artist turned to painting to earn him the recognition he craved. Within months, his paintings attracted the attention of the art world , and landed Basquiat in some of Manhattan's most prestigious galleries.
According to Taylor, as Basquiat's painting career gained momentum, he devoted less time to making art-noise with Gray.
“Really, the time came when he did the P.S. 1 show, which was his first really big exhibit,” Taylor said. “And then right after that he got the Annina Nosei show, so it was right in-between those two shows that he told us that it was off.”
As his career skyrocketed, Basquiat went on to be represented by some of the art world's most fashionable dealers, among them:
Like many of his contemporaries, Basquiat was as famous for his excesses as he was for his artwork . According to Beam, the painter “had little sense of self-control, nor did he seek out any realm of moderation.”
“In about 1984, he started becoming so involved in the mysteries of drugs and everything,” Taylor said. “I didn't see him as much, but we always kept in contact.”
Taylor can also be partially credited with introducing Basquiat to an emerging pop singer named Madonna, with whom the artist had a brief relationship.
“I had known Madonna for about a year before that,” he said. “It was probably early '82, I would imagine. We were all at this bowling alley, and she asked me to introduce him, because I was with him. The very next day Jean called me and said, ‘Listen, I ended up with that girl last night.'”
Toward the end of his career, Basquiat collaborated on a series of paintings with his idol, pop icon Andy Warhol. Warhol's death in February 1987 triggered Basquiat's retreat into drugs – a withdrawal that resulted in his own death just 18 months later.
Although they parted ways musically in 1981, Basquiat and Taylor remained acquainted until the artist's death in August 1988 . In fact, the friendship was one of the few Basquiat sustained right up until the end of his life.
“At first, we were really close in our musical collaborations, in the beginning of our friendship,” Taylor said. “For some reason, he really took a liking to me and for the next two or three years we were very close. I was with him when he painted a lot of paintings.”
After Gray broke up, Taylor went on to collaborate with Gallo on a number of musical projects. In the mid-1980s, they formed bands like Trouble Deuce and the Everyday Brothers.
“Vince and I had recorded an album back then which has never been released, but we always kept the tapes under wraps, because they were so cute and stuff,” he said. “We were both a little bit shy about how cute they sound.”
And, according to Beam, using such aliases as DJ High Priest and Nick Nice, Taylor “was partially responsible for bringing the hip-hop musical genre from the Bronx to Lower Manhattan.”
In 1995, ‘80s art contemporary Julian Schnabel produced “Basquiat,” a cinematic biography of the artist's life and career . Taylor has a cameo in the film and contributed a song called “Suicide Hotline Mode” to the soundtrack.
He currently hosts an art television show called “Outside My Window” in New York City, and he has appeared on about five compilation records released worldwide.
“I also DJ a lot right now,” Taylor said. “I'm really excited to be DJing once every two or three months, but at really big places.”
A number of events are planned in conjunction with the exhibit:
- Opening reception at the Castellani
Although the exhibit has been on display since March 5, an opening reception for “Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait” will be held at 5 p.m. April 2. Admission is $3 for members and $5 for non-members. For more information, contact the Castellani Art Museum at (716) 286-8200.
- Nicholas Taylor and Michael Holman, DJ sets at Soundlab
The former members of Gray will alternate hour long DJ sets at Soundlab at 9 p.m. April 3. The cover charge is $5.
- “Basquiat: Lost in His Own Back Yard,” lecture by Najjar Abdul-Musawwir
A lecture on the work of Basquiat and other contemporary African-American artists, given by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale professor Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, will take place at the Castellani at 4 p.m. April 14. Contact the museum for more information on this free event.
Email: patricksawers@buffalo.com |
