– An odd pairing perhaps, but at the tender age of 19, Jean-Michel Basquiat was introduced to Pop artist and superstar Andy Warhol and the two of them formed a strong bond. Basquiat honed his craft on the streets of Lower Manhattan in the late 1970's spray painting graffiti on the surrounding walls of his stomping ground. All the while Andy Warhol was the art worlds international darling. In Victor Bockris's 'Warhol: A Biography', assistant Ronny Cutrone describes the relationship that spawned between these unlikely collaborators:
"It was like some crazy art-world marriage and they were the odd couple. The relationship was symbiotic. Jean-Michel thought he needed Andy’s fame, and Andy thought he needed Jean-Michel’s new blood. Jean-Michel gave Andy a rebellious image again."
Below is a scene from the British documentary series, 'State Of The Art' in which we are offered a glimpse of the two of them together in 1986, just a year before Warhol’s untimely death due to complications from surgery, and two year’s before Basquiet died of an overdose of heroin. He was only 27 years old. Below is also a selection of some of their beautiful collaborative works.
An online oracle of all things cultural, from music, art, design, literature, entertainment and beyond, Spilt Milk is a carefully selected celebration of all that we find beautiful or fascinating, providing our readers with their daily fix of inspiration and reference.
An online oracle of all things cultural, from music, art, design, literature, entertainment and beyond, Spilt Milk is a carefully selected celebration of all that we find beautiful or fascinating, providing readers with their daily fix of inspiration and reference.
