The Death of Michael Stewart—a 1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat commonly known as Defacement—was Basquiat’s response to the killing of tagger Michael Stewart at the hands of New York City transit cops.
BASQUIAT’S DEFACEMENT—THE UNTOLD STORY—at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum—explores of the impact of Stewart’s death on the lower Manhattan art community.
The exhibition—organized by Chaédria LaBouvier—includes work by David Hammons, Keith Haring, Lyle Ashton Harris, George Condo, and Andy Warhol. A film series will play in conjunction with the show (see link below for details).
BASQUIAT’S DEFACEMENT—THE UNTOLD STORY
Through November 6.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 88th Street), New York City.
From top: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart), 1983, acrylic and marker on wood, collection of Nina Clemente, New York, photograph by Allison Chipak, © the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2018; David Hammons, The Man Nobody Killed, 1986, stenciled paint on commercially printed cardboard with cut-and-taped photocopy from a spiral bound periodical with works by various artists, from Eye magazine, no. 14, “Cobalt Myth Mechanics,” 1986, © the Museum of Modern Art, New York, licensed by SCALA / ARS, New York; Keith Haring, Michael Stewart, USA for Africa, 1985, enamel and acrylic on canvas, collection of Monique and Ziad Ghandour, © the Keith Haring Foundation; card for benefit at Danceteria, October 3, 1983, collection of Franck Goldberg, photograph by Allison Chipak, © the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Jean-Michel Basquiat, La Hara, 1981, acrylic and oil stick on wood panel, Arora Collection; Jean-Michel Basquiat, Charles the First, 1982, acrylic and oil stick on canvas, three panels; Lyle Ashton Harris, Saint Michael Stewart, 1994, photograph, courtesy and © Lyle Ashton Harris; Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Sheriff), 1981, acrylic and oil stick on canvas, Carl Hirschmann Collection. Basquiat images courtesy and © the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / Artestar, the collectors, and the photographers.
