Basquiat@ The Brooklyn Museum of Art

Weighing in on Basquiat@ The BMA

Like the Human Torch in his paintings, Jean-Michel’s “Flame-On!” rocked the art scene in the early nineteen eighties.
It makes perfect sense for Brooklyn-born and bred Jean-Michel Basquiat to have his homecoming at the Brooklyn Museum, (his show at the Whitney in 1992 is but a distant memory in the collective psyche of New York City). Where else but here should we see the Basquiat paintings and drawings with new eyes; eyes that have been primed by the look and feel of Williamsburg, itself a reflection of East Villiage scene which engendered J.M.B. in the first place. SAMO indeed: “same ‘ole ____” that being the tag used by the artist in his earliest attempts to gain the notoriety he craved.
The music of Miles, Bird and Hendrix fueled Basquait’s improvisational style and infused the high-keyed color and outrageousness that is central to these haunting images.

Basquiat@ The Brooklyn Museum of Art

Through June 5