Basquiat's 'King Pleasure' Exhibit in Los Angeles, CA

I had a recent opportunity to see the sisters' selected works of Jean-Michel Basquiat in an exhibit at The Grand in L.A.

The exhibit was well-presented with a range of Jean-Michel's works, a re-creation of his studio and early family home environment, informative videos with interviews of some of the people who knew him -- all contributing some context about the artist's short life.

It didn't, however, speak to Jean-Michel's first foray into mark-making with a school friend doing graffiti works signed as Samo, the club-drug scene and how it influenced his life/work choices, the importance of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring to his intention of making it big in the art world (there were 4 Warhols in the exhibit), or even how or when he died. I knew little more about Basquiat when I left than when I entered the exhibit. That seemed a missed opportunity. However, www.basquiat.com has a very good timeline about the artist's life that I recommend perusing before going to the exhibit, if you're planning to. It is a resource I didn't check out beforehand.

A few pieces I liked from the show included Cabeza completed in 1982 (yellow piece below), the bass player drawing, and the Bird painting (Bird was the nickname of Basquiat's friend, Charlie Parker, the musician).

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