Bruno Bischofberger, the Zurich dealer, had the idea of bringing together three of his artists and asking them to produce joint works. The first combination that occurred to him was Warhol and Basquiat, who had known each other at The Factory in October 1982. Clemente, who had been living in New York for some years, was the chosen third. Their collaboration took place in 1984, following a rotational system whereby one artist would start the picture, leaving space for his colleagues. The result, amounting to 15 works, was shown a few months later at the Bischofberger gallery in Zurich. Warhol and Basquiat decided to continue working together and the joint pictures were produced over several months in 1984 and 1985, such as their “Win $1,000,000” (below). This exhibition (until 29 April) has assembled some of these collaborative works that are more famous for the names of those involved than as works of art. It also includes a collaboration between Basquiat and Bishofberger’s three-year-old daughter, Cora. Having seen these pictures, one wonders what, if anything, was the communicated or shared between the artists, or whether their only common ground was the shared space of the canvas.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Collaborations: Warhol-Basquiat-Clemente'