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🎟️ All free passes for this film have been claimed. Take heart! Our walkup line will open at 5 pm in the Lobby. We’ll do our best to find everyone a seat.Questions? Email [email protected]
Hirshhorn Insiders, email [email protected]
🎥 ABOUT
Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat in this definitive documentary. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful Black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat’s own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.
Curator, artist, and music scholar Adrian Loving will introduce the film.
This program is presented with "Basquiat× Banksy," an exhibition of two major paintings, one by Jean-Michel Basquiat (b. Brooklyn, New York, 1960–1988) and the other by Banksy (anonymous; b. near Bristol, England). Placed in dialogue, Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (1982) and Banksy’s response, Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search (2018), reveal throughlines among street art, contemporary art, and the popular imagination.
🎞️ PROGRAM
Introduction: Adrian Loving
Film: "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)"
Runtime: 88 min.
🎨 ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
"Basquiat × Banksy" marks the first time that artwork by either artist has been presented at the nation’s museum of modern and contemporary art. The exhibition also includes 20 small works on paper and wood from the collection of Larry Warsh that Basquiat made between 1979 and 1985 and which demonstrate the artist’s deep familiarity with art history; his use of language; and his signature motifs, such as skulls and crowns. The film "Downtown 81" (shot in 1980–1981 and released in 2000), a send-up of the denizens of Manhattan’s ’80s avant-garde that stars Basquiat as a struggling artist named “Jean,” is also on view.
Organized by Betsy Johnson, assistant curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, "Basquiat × Banksy" is presented as part of the Hirshhorn’s 50th-anniversary season. "Basquiat × Banksy" has been made possible with generous support from Kenneth C. Griffin and Griffin Catalyst.
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Image credit: Jean-Michel Basquiat (b. Brooklyn, New York, 1960–1988), Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, 1982. Acrylic, crayon, and spray paint on canvas. Private collection. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York
All images by Jean-Michel Basquiat, all likenesses of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and all use of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s name © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Independence Avenue at Seventh Street, SW, Washington D.C., DC, United States, Washington, District of Columbia 20024
