Living and dying close to the edge in the 1980s Manhattan world of art and culture, Jean-Michel Basquiat moved from guerrilla street artist to producing innumerable works worth millions, until his drug-induced end in 1988.
Tag: urban art
Art of Black Flag: Angst and Rebellion Symbolized
Punk Rock: the thrashing, slamming, moshing…and the art. First you smash all the institutions, but then find the institutions have enshrined you. Here is a history of Black Flag told through the mesmerizing and beyond-satirical art of Raymond Pettibon.
Paul Gauguin: Nature and Primitivism as Mythical Notions
Paul Gauguin, the bourgeois-turned-bohemian artist who left France for Tahiti, reveals a darker, almost menacing mythological vision, in contrast to his exploitative picture-postcard fantasy-native Polynesian paintings for which he is known. The exhibition continues at MoMA in New York until June.
Banksy: Satirical Outlaw, Graffiti Bomber, Mockumentarian
Hiding in the back alleys and behind a hoodie, he stencils freehand Gorillas in Pink Masks. An international art sensation makes a film about making a film about a guy who wants to become an international art sensation. The pseudonymous street artist Banksy has turned his well-marketed cultural irreverence into a boom time in the discontent industry.
Francis Bacon About Town: Surrealist Painter, Worth Multi-Millions
Francis Bacon, Irish born British painter, whose work recently auctioned for a record $142 million, in his own words in a 1985 documentary for British television, gambling, drinking, and talking about his influences.
Diane Arbus: A Privileged Voyeur of Life on the Margins
It’s been 42 years since the troubled US photographer took her own life, but her images continue to reveal the camera’s predatory nature. Watch a documentary made in 1972 that examines her photography and her methods.
26-Foot Marilyn of The Desert
On the Plaza of American Life, where does 26-foot Marilyn stand? For now, she’s straddling Palm Springs tourists. Is she this years’ ceramic pink flamingo replacement, soon to be on everyone’s front lawn? Let’s hope so. America’s new moral umbrella is Monroe’s revenge. Oow, some do like it hot.