Banksy's Basquiat @ Barbican

Bansky criticised the Barbican Centre for hosting a Basquiat exhibition after years of suppressing graffiti on its walls... In its own way:

These two murals appeared this past weekend near the art centre, in London.

-

According to The Guardian:

The murals, inspired by the upcoming Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition at the centre, were confirmed as genuine on the artist’s verified Instagram account.

Announcing the new artworks in a series of posts on Instagram, Banksy said: “Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican – a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls.” 

The first image, which is possibly mocking the exhibition, as Basquiat was originally a graffiti artist, is of a ferris wheel with people queueing up at a ticket booth underneath. Crown motifs, common in some of Basquiat’s art, replace the wheel’s passenger cars.

The second post is captioned: “Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the Metropolitan police – an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show.”

In the second mural, which is clearly inspired by Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump – one of his most famous artworks – Banksy has portrayed police officers searching and questioning the boy figure as the dog looks on.

It is perhaps a comment how Basquiat, who was one of the first famous black American artists, would be treated if he was working today, given how black people are still much more likely to be targeted for stop and search than white. 

The exhibition, which is the first large-scale UK show of Basquiat’s pioneering neo-expressionism, opens on Wednesday at the arts centre. It will feature more than 100 works alongside rare photography, film and archive material.

-