Installation View

Jean-Michel Basquiat in Brazil

The largest ever exhibition of Basquiat in Brazil has been on display in São Paulo, Brasília and Belo Horizonte and includes 80 of the artist’s works from the Mugrabi Collection.

School group observing Four Big, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

by Luísa Lombardi
Thu 20 Sep, 2018

The largest ever exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) in Latin America has been on display at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in the cities of São Paulo, Brasília and Belo Horizonte, and includes 80 of the artist’s works from the private collection of the largest collector of Basquiat, Jose Mugrabi, curated by Pieter Tjabes.

The exhibition brings several of the artist’s works, among them paintings, collages, sketches and even ceramic plates. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, his work is strongly influenced by the presence of the city in the 1970s and 1980s, for example through graffiti. Basquiat, one of the few Afro-American artists in an art scene that was predominantly white, knew how to subvert conventions by mixing pop and erudite culture.

Brooklyn, Vitorian houses in Brooklyn, New York, 1980. Joanne Ditmer/The Denver Post.

General view of the exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat, art works of the Mugrabi Collection, CCBB-Belo Horizonte.

Brother’s Sausage, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1983). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

Untitled, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1983). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

Left: Soho, Facade of building in Soho, New York, 1980. Ted Thai, The Life Collection of Images/Getty Images. Right: Subway, Graffiti in a IRT carriage of the New York subway, 1972 F. Roy Kemp/Stringer BIPs/Getty Images.

Left: The Mosque, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Right: Untitled (Hand Anatomy), Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

45 Marker on Ceramic Plates, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1983/84). © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Studio on Crosby Street, Roland Hagenberg (1983), New York.

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