Yesterday I ventured out to see a solo exhibition of the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. I will say, I am not a super fan of his work, but overall enjoyed the experience.
The Brant Foundation made this exhibition possible and free. You can reserve tickets via their website, but right now they are currently waitlisted. The building is located at 421 E 6th Street in the East Village. It was a pretty unassuming building from the outside, but inside was incredible. But I will get to that in a moment.
My tickets were timed for 10:30, but since there were only a few people lined up at about 10:15, they let us in early. My tiny bag was checked along with my tickets, and then we were all told what was expected of us. No food or drink, don’t get too close to the artwork, and no professional cameras; only cellphone photos. This caused a little bit of a problem with a few of the guests, as the website had just said no flash, nothing about no cameras. I was only using my cellphone, so it didn’t affect me. But one gentleman decided to throw a hissy fit about it; I was embarrassed for him.
After getting all the rules and regulations out of the way, the small group was guided into an elevator and up we went. The exhibition started on the fourth floor and then you walked down the stairs to the following floors with no re-entry to other floors. Let me start by saying the exhibition spaces were incredible. They were well lit and spacious, lots of exposed brick and high ceilings. On the far walls there were floor to ceiling windows with impressive city views.
There is no need for me to comment on the artwork itself. The photos can do that for me. Check out the following slideshow.
The final space is on the floor you came in on, behind a velvet curtain. Then there was the gift shop. It was pitiful. A few uninspiring shirts and hoodies, generic Baquiat coffee table books, and Basquiat themed notebooks. I feel like there could have been more, but that’s just me. I purchased nothing and made my way out of the back.
Ashley's Good Vibes 