DESPERATELY SEEKING BASQUIAT
£12.99
Basquiat is not just the most significant African-American artist ever, he is the most expensive American artist at auction ever – in 2017 his Untitled piece sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's: yes, Basquiat is bigger than Warhol. Part of the great Desperately Seeking series, with its cute compact format and lovely 'coarse sand' UV covers, Basquiat takes us on a journey from Brooklyn, to Manhattan, into the druggy subculture of Mudd Club and Club 57, to the unlikely locations of Zurich, Abidjan, Saint Moritz, the Chateau Marmont in L.A., Puerto Rico, Paris and Hawaii. Basquiat's is a tragic tale of a troubled childhood, an instinctive genius, huge success, but ultimately a victim of serious drug abuse and the pressures of the fickle and mercurial New York art world. He still feels so now – as witnessed by his brilliant recent shows in London and Paris – that it's hard to believe that he died from an OD, in one of Andy Warhol's lofts, way back in 1987, aged just 27.
Ian Castello-Cortes
ISBN: 978-1909051-67-6. 128 pages. HBK
Publication: January 2019
