The block of Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette Street in downtown Manhattan has been named Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in honour of the late Neo-Expressionist artist. A fixture in the bustling East Village scene who became a global art star, Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27 in the home and studio he rented from his friend Andy Warhol at 57 Great Jones Street from 1983 to 1988.
On Tuesday (21 October), members of the New York city council and members of the artist's family, including his sister Lisane Basquiat, gathered to unveil the Jean-Michel Basquiat Way street signs that will as a reminder of the artist’s indelible mark on New York culture.
Basquiat's final home is now adorned with a commemorative plaque and has been rented out by the actress Angelina Jolie as a showroom and curatorial space for her fashion brand Jolie Atelier.
The building where Jean-Michel Basquiat's lived and worked for several years, including at the time of his death © Benjamin Sutton
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 in Brooklyn to Haitian and Puerto Rican parents. After running away from home as a teenager and dropping out of alternative high school, he made his name as a graffiti tagger under the pseudonym SAMO, emblazoning Lower Manhattan walls with cryptic, satirical slogans and poetry.
A fixture in the downtown avant-garde art and music scenes, he came up alongside figures like Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring, and Arleen Schloss. In 1980 he was featured in the infamous Times Square Show, which immediately put his name on the map. He sold his first painting to Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, eventually becoming the then-youngest artist to participate in Documenta, the German quinquennial.
Basquiat became an art-world sensation by his early twenties, working with influential dealers like Lary Gagosian and Mary Boone while jet-setting around the world. The racist and exploitative nature of the art market took a toll on him though, and his substance use escalated in tandem with the media frenzy following his rise to fame.
This is not the first time a city street has been named after the artist. Place Jean-Michel Basquiat, a public square in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, was christened in the artist's memory in 2018. Many of the surrounding streets are named after artists, too, including Paul Klee and Marcel Duchamp.