I got this message from my Parisian mange tout Laure saying: ‘Check this out because my daddy said so’.
‘Cause I’m easy like that, it was all the convincing I needed to head out to the Jean-Michel Basquiat photographic exhibition at the Front Room of the St. Martin’s Hotel in London. Well it took me 2 weeks, but I did make it there eventually.
More like a conservatory than a front room, the exhibition showcases photographs by Nicholas Taylor taken of Basquiat in the early 80s, during his time in the industrial band GRAY. Large prints and some personal insights from bandmates and friends who knew him in that period are spread over the walls, extending onto the ceiling, creating a backdrop for framed pictures on display.
The pictures are of the time – young, fun, cool and stylish- capturing the band members and the scene. Basquiat is seen sporting some crazy hairstyles long before his trademark ‘funky dreads’. In one picture he has a Mohawk and in another what seems like a squirrel taped on the back of his head (no kidding). Not surprised his dad is selective about the pictures that get put out to the public – or so I gathered from the curator of the show.
Amongst Gray’s band members was Vincent Gallo the actor, artist and ‘The Brown Bunny’ movie director of getting sucked off by Chloe Sevigny fame.
Don’t know much about the music produced but this was before fame found Basquiat in the art world. However quite a few songs from their album made it onto the soundtrack for ‘Downtown 81’, the real-life documentary which captures the ‘ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan’ starring Basquiat.
The show should be running till early November and relocates to Dover Street Market. Don’t ask where just get down to Dover Street market and you are bound to find out.
Well there missy, we gotta start listening to daddy more often.
WORDS X IMAGES – BY NINJA
Doverstreet market link – http://www.doverstreetmarket.com/dsmpaper/09_autumn_winter/basquiat.html
Downtown81 link – http://www.downtown81.com/
Vincent Gallo – http://www.vincentgallo.com/
The brown bunny – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brown_Bunny
St martins hotel – http://www.stmartinslane.com/#/home/
Daddy – http://www.editions-verdier.fr/v3/auteur-salgon.html
