{"id":192692,"date":"2026-04-10T20:59:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192692\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T20:59:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:59:58","slug":"an-intimate-portrait-of-basquiats-early-life-returns-to-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/192692\/","title":{"rendered":"An Intimate Portrait of Basquiat\u2019s Early Life Returns to Brooklyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amidst the bevy of big numbers and brand partnerships, those who knew Jean-Michel Basquiat have fought to recenter the painter\u2019s mythology on his humanity<\/a>. One such effort, an exhibition titled \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d, will return to Brooklyn for the first time in seven years next month.<\/p>\n

The exhibition features 20 works of art as well as photographs and other ephemera dating back to the late 1970s\u2014just before Basquiat launched his studio practice. The show opens May 16 in Basquiat\u2019s hometown during Frieze Week<\/a>\u00a0at The Bishop Gallery, where \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d debuted in 2019.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Rock Hudson) (ca. 1979-80) Photo courtesy of The Bishop Gallery.<\/p>\n

Most of the items on view will hail from the collection of biologist and photographer Alexis Adler, who lived with Basquiat in the 12th Street apartment she still occupies from 1979 to 1980. Although Adler said<\/a> they \u201chad relations,\u201d the fledgling creatives never dated. Still, Adler treated Basquiat with love, giving him a place to stay and letting him paint it from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

Living with Basquiat ultimately became \u201ctoo complicated\u201d Adler said<\/a>. Soon after moving out, he got a studio, focused on painting, and after appearing in 1980\u2019s \u201cTimes Square Show\u201d skyrocketed to fame. Adler, meanwhile, held on to all her mementos from her year with Basquiat, from the murals on her walls to the garments he enlivened with art.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blue (ca. 1979-80) Photo courtesy of The Bishop Gallery.<\/p>\n

Many of these relics went to auction at Christie\u2019s in 2014. Those left over appeared in \u201cBasquiat Before Basquiat: East 12th Street, 1979-1980<\/a>\u201d, a traveling museum show that launched at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in 2017. Meanwhile, \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d pairs some of Adler\u2019s holdings with contributions from further Basquiat compatriots: artist and Binibon waitress Jane Diaz, Tier 3 booking agent Hilary Jaeger, and downtown scenester Katie Taylor.<\/p>\n

Three years after debuting in Brooklyn, \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d embarked on a year-long tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in six American cities. From there, a portion of Adler\u2019s collection appeared in \u201cBasquiat x Warhol. Painting Four Hands\u201d at Paris\u2019s Fondation Louis Vuitton. The Bishop Gallery also showed Adler\u2019s photos of Basquiat at last year\u2019s Miami Art Week.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture acquired its first-ever Basquiat from Adler\u2014his untitled artwork depicting the American Flag. In 2024, the institution also purchased over 100 photographs Adler took of Basquiat while they lived together.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Transistors (ca. 1979-80) Photo courtesy of The Bishop Gallery.<\/p>\n

Adler still owns the film, though, so some of those photos will appear in the latest rendition of \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d at The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn\u2014alongside a few new additions from her legendary trove, including sweaters, postcards, writings, and drawings. Adler has considered selling the whole cache to a museum. But, as The Bishop Gallery wrote in press materials for their forthcoming show, she\u2019s ultimately decided to keep working with their team, to maximize the collection\u2019s accessibility.<\/p>\n

The Bishop Gallery is developing Bishop Arts & Research Center with hopes to ultimately acquire the items. In the meantime, they\u2019ve organized various panels, screenings, and guided conversations featuring Adler, Basquiat\u2019s street art partner Al Diaz, and more to activate \u201cOur Friend, Jean\u201d while the global art world is in New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amidst the bevy of big numbers and brand partnerships, those who knew Jean-Michel Basquiat have fought to recenter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[77090,77088,77094,77089,77085,4986,98,100,99,77092,77093,12381,9110,9,24,63,77086,77091,77087],"class_list":{"0":"post-192692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-al-diaz","9":"tag-alex-adler","10":"tag-artnet-news","11":"tag-barc","12":"tag-basquiat","13":"tag-bed-stuy","14":"tag-brooklyn","15":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","16":"tag-brooklyn-news","17":"tag-early-works","18":"tag-ephemera","19":"tag-exhibition","20":"tag-jean-michel-basquiat","21":"tag-new-york","22":"tag-new-york-city","23":"tag-nyc","24":"tag-our-friend-jean","25":"tag-samo","26":"tag-the-bishop-gallery"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}