The late Keith Haring at Basquiat’s funeral said that Basquiat, “disrupted the politics of the art world and insisted that if he had to play their games, he would make the rules”, this remains quintessential to any artist. Basquiat has always been the artist who has remain truthful to his own ideas, his art and his life. Yet, could it be perhaps his quick rise to fame in the ballooning art market of the 1980s was also his downfall into self-destructiveness, in addition to the added pressure to produce art for the sake of commerce. I would like to think the former and Basquiat was foremost “an artist” of his time, an important artist of his generation.
The Art Gallery of Ontario opened its doors to the public on Feb 7th for Basquiat’s Now’s The Time exhibition, a staggering retrospective of 60 paintings and 40 drawings from the generosity of American and European collections. This is an important and groundbreaking exhibition for the AGO in Toronto. An exhibition that “hopefully creates an entry point for those who might not access the AGO to come visit” Basquiat’s work, says Casey Mecija, a Toronto artist, during her opening speech. It was a night of celebration, of opening speeches, music, mingling and drinks, conversation and dialogue, and a break dancing competition brought on by youths from the UNITY charity organization.
Casey who also worked with the Canadian Advisory Committee for the Basquiat exhibit, remarked some important messages in her opening speech. Juxtaposed from the words from Martin Luther King Jr’s infamous and timeless, political speech, “I have a dream”, she says, “Now is the time to question the structures of power, to ask questions to what makes some lives or either some art more valuable then others, to incite questions, to ask ourselves how can we be better. It reminds us there is no better time then now”. These feelings often reflect Basquiat’s thematic works: personal identity, dualities, power, racism and inequality, repression, consumerism, and humanity.
Furthermore, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s sisters and nieces were flown in to Toronto for the exhibition and gave some heart-felt opening remarks to the exhibitions. Lisane Basquiat mentioned that she saw some people wearing shirts with “Do what you love” written on them. She found it humbling to see and says “there isn’t a better way to honour Basquiat then to take that on, to do what it is that you love”. “Do what you love” seems to be the right sentiment for any one of us to find a passion in this short life. Although, Basquiat tragically past away from intoxication of drugs in late 1988 at the age of 27, up until then he exhibited works in NYC and Paris, darker in retrospect, but continued to work up until his tragic end. Guest curator, Dieter Buchhart, put it rightly it’s important that “the myth doesn’t take over and that you stay with the work”. We shouldn’t forget his uncompromising message, his political stance, his youthful angst and energy, his humanistic ideals, and his desire to make an impact on the world and to touch others. “It’s important to love our culture and history, but lets try to strip away identity and see that all lives matter”, says Curtis Santiago. Basquiat, in his own words wanted to be remembered not as a black artist, but as an artist, one that could resonant with every one of us. And foremost, now is the time to claim humanity, equality and future for all people, independent of race, sexual orientation and class, says Dieter.
This exhibition runs at the AGO from February 7 – May 10, 2015. And you can buy tickets here.
