Wednesday, May 20, 2009

On Facebook today I updated my status, saying that I "will never learn not to paint in my good clothes," to which Dennis Kardon commented: "didn't hurt Basquiat, though don't start shooting up as well."

It reminded me of being a guest at a dinner following the opening of the 1984 “New Expressionists” show at the Sidney Janis Gallery, when Basquiat was refused entrance to the Russian Tea Room because of his paint-spattered clothing. He slipped away and returned a little while later wearing clean pants and the world’s most expensive Armani jacket, after which he was politely admitted. A class act.

Jean-Michel Basquiat in his studio, 1985, photograph by Lizzie Himmel.
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1 comment:

martha miller said...

Carol, when I was a student at Maine College of Art, just about everything I owned became spotted with paint or ink, including my shoes. And now, even when I'm just teaching at MECA, I manage to find the wet spot of paint to brush up against. I say that my wardrobe is "MECA-fied."
I'm always intrigued by photos of the gentleman painters of the late 19th and early 20th century (Manet, Matisse, Derain...) happily painting away in three piece suits!! And I love pics of Isabelle Bishop at work in her studio with her knee-length white lab coat...

May 22, 2009 at 9:08 AM

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