A friendly interpretation would be that the creators of “Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure” are just a little embarrassed that the exhibition is doing so insanely well. Nobody could have guessed that this show would be the hit of the New York art spring, and now everyone is – could be – so overwhelmed that they politely remain silent. Even a month and a half after opening, weekends are often sold out and queues form on any given day of the week, although tickets have to be booked for a specific time due to the immense crowds. So if you ask politely how many people have visited the exhibition so far, you get the completely unbelievable answer: Unfortunately, there are no figures for this.
The ticket costs $45 on weekends
It can be safely assumed that very exact figures are available, but at the same time the people at the exhibition have no interest in someone calculating how much money they have already turned over. This in turn may be due to the fact that they went so far with the admission prices that you have to swallow twice even in New York. The ticket costs $45 on weekends and $35 during the week. If you want to skip the line, you can shell out $65 and walk past the line with a smile.
First of all, the exhibition is worth the money, it’s fantastic. But considering that MoMA or the Metropolitan Museum often charge Art $25 to view a seemingly endless number of masterpieces, that’s a bit steep. Then again: Jean-Michel Basquiat is not only more popular than ever in his hometown of New York. Last year alone, three of his paintings fetched more than $150 million at auction.
Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat such as “Jailbirds” (1983) fetch millions at auction.
(Photo: The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022)
What is special about the current exhibition is that it was curated by Basquiat’s sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heríveaux. Both expressly point out that they are not experts on art, but experts on the life of their brother and family. The sisters co-administer the estate with stepmother Nora Fitzpatrick.
More than 200 works by Basquiat will be on display, most of which have never been seen in public. All sorts of memorabilia from Basqiuat’s life, early drawings, videos from childhood days are also on display, and last but not least, the family living room and Basquiat’s studio on Great Jones Street have been recreated with the original furnishings. That may sound a bit cheesy, but it makes sense in the context of this type of exhibition, which is more an experience than an art show.
How many paying visitors have seen Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Untitled (100 Yen)” (1982) so far is not revealed. There are many.
(Photo: The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat Licensed by Artestar, New York, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022)
In an ordinary exhibition you look at this object, then that, maybe you go back and compare, you move back and forth. That is not intended here. At the entrance you learn that this is a one-way street. You should definitely give yourself all the time in the world, but please don’t go back to rooms you’ve already visited. This is of course because there is a constant stream of people pushing from behind. You know that from terrible tourist attractions like Madame Tussauds. But it’s also known from serious places like the 9/11 Museum.
The family wants to take care of the estate – and earn money from it
But it is the case that on the one hand this is not particularly strictly controlled and on the other hand the organizers would not have become so greedy that they would force too many people into the rooms. The queues at the entrance are caused by the fact that the stewards are actually waiting to see how quickly or slowly people move through the exhibition and let in more or fewer visitors accordingly.
Purists might be skeptical about this way of presenting an artist’s work. Too many videos, too much frills. However, it would be wrong to say that this exhibition trivializes Basquiat as an artist. You might have to imagine the whole thing like a Rowohlt monograph that has been translated into something vivid. A little fussy here and there, but characterized by a great deal of knowledge, inclined towards the important as well as the pleasantly remote.
None of the works shown are for sale. The family wants to keep and care for the estate and that is perhaps the most important aspect of this exhibition. It’s believable that while the sisters family are sure to make very good money off this show, this isn’t a sell out. If the family wanted to become very wealthy in one fell swoop, all they had to do was sell the 40-foot-wide painting “Nu Nile” that Basquiat painted for the Palladium nightclub, where he liked to party. It would bring in tens of millions. You see it in a replica of the Palladium at the end of the tour and you could look at it for a whole hour, maybe two. Conveniently, this replica has some comfy sofas lying around and 80’s disco music playing. It is the only place in the exhibition that invites you to linger.
Basquiat was born in 1960 and died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. The exhibition does not mention a single word about drug problems. The sisters have decided to paint an all-round positive picture of their brother. That’s understandable, but you should know it when you visit the exhibition. This is not a critical questioning of author and work, but first and foremost a homage. Surprising as that may sound, that’s not a big problem, because thanks to the family perspective, visitors can experience Jean-Michel Basquiat up close and personal like never before.
Jean Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure at the Starrett-Lehigh Building, 601 West 26th Street (entrance on 27th Street), New York, NY 10001 through September 2022.