Basquiat × Banksy

Basquiat × Banksy is 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.

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 were made by Basquiat between 1979 and 1985 and 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.

Accompanying public programs include a free hourlong lecture by Richard J. Powell, John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University and a distinguished scholar of African American art and art of the African diaspora, at 6:30 PM on Oct. 10 in the Hirshhorn’s Ring Auditorium.

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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About Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of the best-known artists of his generation and is widely considered to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His career in art spanned the late 1970s through the 1980s until his death in 1988, at the age of 27.

Basquiat’s works are edgy and raw, and through a bold sense of color and composition, he maintains a fine balance between seemingly contradictory forces such as control and spontaneity, menace and wit, and urban imagery and primitivism. The Basquiat brand embodies the values and aspirations of young international urban culture.

Basquiat often incorporated words into his paintings. Before his career as a painter began, he produced punk-inspired postcards for sale on the street and become known for political-poetical graffiti under the name of SAMO©.

The conjunction of various media is an integral element of Basquiat’s art. His paintings are typically covered with text and codes of all kinds: words, letters, numerals, pictograms, logos, map symbols, diagrams, and more, and feature multipanel paintings and individual canvases with exposed stretcher bars, the surface dense with writing, collage, and imagery.

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.

About Banksy

Banksy, arguably the most famous street artist working today, has managed to conceal his identity despite widespread speculation. His first identifiable artworks appeared on trains and buildings around Bristol, England, in the early 1990s. Early in his career, he developed his signature style, a mostly monochromatic stencil technique adopted partly for speed of execution and partly in homage to French artist Blek le Rat (a.k.a. Xavier Prou), who pioneered stencil-based graffiti works in Paris in the 1980s. Since Banksy’s first large-scale mural appeared in Bristol in 1999, he has become known for witty pranks and antiauthoritarian political works. In 2018, he famously caused one of his paintings to self-destruct seconds after it was sold at auction (ironically, the half-shredded work was later auctioned for a much higher price). Although his identity is secret, he has left a trail of clues in interviews and the documentary Exit through the Gift Shop (2010).