The “Crowning Journey of Jean-Michel Basquiat” opened its doors to members of the public on Thursday, with large-scale installations inspired by the artist’s works along with various media showing moments of his life, as well as his thoughts and ideas, being showcased across four areas in the City of Dreams (COD) in Cotai.
The New York-born artist gained success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement, according to Wikipedia.
His work tackled dichotomies, while he also appropriated poetry drawing and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique, according to Wikipedia.
Though the artist passed away in 1988 at the age of 27, his legacy continues to live on. A statement provided during last week’s unveiling event added that Basquiat’s 1982 painting “Untitled” sold for a record US$110.5 million in 2017, and his work continues to set new records in the art market today.
The recently unveiled “Crowning Journey of Jean-Michel Basquiat” features a cluster of installations at the property’s Main Portal, and among them are a seven-metre-tall dinosaur installation inspired by Basquiat’s 1984 art work “Pez Dispenser” (aka “Dinosaur with Crown”).
Moreover, at the Southwest Entrance’s outdoor area is an installation of Basquiat’s 1984 piece “Brown Spots (Portraits of Andy Warhol as a Banana)”, which stands at 10 metres tall. The original work was featured in Basquiat’s first exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York, according to information on the installation.
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Grillo” (1984), meanwhile, covers the façade of The Showroom at City of Dreams, which the statement said measures at 10 metres wide, topped with a 6-metre-tall crown.
Aside from the installations, Artelli - The Pioneering Multi-dimensional Art Space, showcases Basquiat’s “transformative moments” through an exhibition that features reproductions of his works, a documentary screening, books that the artist had read, as well as settings from different points of his life.
The free-admission “Crowning Journey of Jean-Michel Basquiat” is on until November 24. The installations can be viewed all day, while the art space is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Photos: Rui Pastorin
