Jean-Michel Basquiat is an artist known for his extensive addition to the art world by exploring the Black experience, pop culture, Black American sports figures, and so much more. ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure©’ is an exhibit presented by the artist’s family featuring the artist’s work for the first time, and over 200 never before seen paintings will be showcased.
Abbott Miller and the Pentagram team have created the visual campaign, exhibition graphics, and book for ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure.’ The campaign feels highly personal, bold, and extends upon the narrative journey that the exhibition will showcase.
Abbott Miller and team are creating the visual campaign, exhibition graphics, and book for ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure©’ @basquiatkingpleasure, a major retrospective set to open at New York’s landmark Starrett-Lehigh Building on April 9, 2022. The exhibition is the first to be curated and executive produced solely by the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate and will feature over 200 never before and rarely seen paintings, drawings, ephemera and artifacts to create an intimate and multidimensional portrait of Jean-Michel that can only be told by his family.
Renowned architect Sir David Adjaye OBE Adjaye Associates will serve as the exhibition designer for ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure©.’ The exhibition will share Jean-Michel’s work and story through several thematically arranged galleries, each of which will have works, artifacts and a dedicated soundtrack. The immersive experience will include an environmental evocation of Jean-Michel’s childhood home and a recreation of his Great Jones Street studio, as well as a gallery of oral histories from members of his family and a close circle of friends.
“The most exciting aspect of the project is participating in a completely unique opportunity to interpret the work from such a personal perspective,” says Miller. “The framework of the show as a family-initiated project gives it this incredibly powerful point of view, a really unprecedented lens through which to see his work.”
“I envision the exhibition as an intimate narrative journey that not only displays his trailblazing career but cultivates his spirit and mission through the eyes and insights of his family,” says Adjaye.
The Basquiat family is producing the exhibition with Ileen Gallagher, principal of ISG Productions, with whom Miller has previously collaborated on projects for The Rolling Stones, Harley-Davidson and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
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