During the late 1970s and early 1980s, New York City was financially and socially bankrupt, but the art and music scene was flourishing. During these years, the downtown New York music scene – no wave, hip-hop, disco funk and club culture – shaped Jean-Michel Basquiat as both a musician and an artist. This catalogue for a travelling exhibition explores how Basquiat's painting has parallels in his music (sampling, cut-up, rapping), and takes a new look at his production as a writer and a poet in light of his connections with the then-emerging hip-hop culture. This beautifully illustrated exhibition catalogue of rarely seen photographs and images sheds new light on Basquiat as a musician, exploring how his art and music are related, and how they reflect on his identity as a Black artist in the United States, the downtown New York music scene, and contemporary culture. AUTHORS: Mary-Dailey Desmarais is Chief Curator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MBAM). She curated the major exhibitions Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Independants (2020), and Once Upon a Time...The Western: A New Frontier in Art and Film (2017). Dieter Buchhart is a curator and art theorist based in Vienna. He has PhD degrees in art history and restoration (science). He has curated many exhibitions in renowned international museums and art spaces and was co-curator of the Fondation Louis Vuitton's exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat (2 October 2018-4 January 2019). Journalist and former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Jazzman magazine, Vincent Bessières curated the exhibitions We Want Miles (2009) and Django Reinhardt, Swing de Paris (2012) at the Cité de la Musique–Philharmonie de Paris. SELLING POINTS: . Documents the first major multimedia exhibition devoted to the role of music in Jean-Michel Basquiat's work . Accompanies an exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from October 2022 - February 2023 and Cité de la musique – Philharmonie de Paris, March - July 2023 175 colour illustrations

Table of Contents:
FOREWORDS 008 Basquiat: Musician of Our Times Stephane Aquin 010 When the Eye Listens Marie-Pauline Martin PRELUDES 014 INTRODUCTION Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music Mary-Dailey Desmarais (MDD) 032 Michael Holman Interview: Mary-Dailey Desmarais NEW YORK BEATS 040 The Urban Soundscape: A Playlist in Remix Carlo McCormick 052 Gray Matters: Rambling Reminiscence of Basquiat and His Orchestra Glenn O’Brien 061 “Beat Bop” Vincent Bessieres 064 Nicholas Taylor Interview: Vincent Bessieres 090 Torrick “Toxic” Ablack Interview: Vincent Bessieres SEEING SOUND 098 The Sound of Basquiat Dieter Buchhart 122 Anna Domino Interview: Vincent Bessieres 127 Basquiat’s Notebooks Mary-Dailey Desmarais 134 A Panel of Experts Mary-Dailey Desmarais 136 Arto Lindsay Interview: Vincent Bessieres JAZZ 150 Now’s the Time Vincent Bessieres 152 “One Great Big Loudspeaker”: Jazz and Blues in the Work of Jean-Michel Basquiat Vincent Bessieres (VB) 190 George Condo Interview: Mary-Dailey Desmarais 196 Basquiat’s Boxes Vincent Bessieres FROM HIP-HOP TO BLUES AND BEYOND 204 Cut to the Bone: The Blackness of Basquiat’s Performative Line Kobena Mercer 220 Lee Jaffe Interview: Mary-Dailey Desmarais 222 Slave Auction Vincent Bessieres 224 Basquiat: Eroica Franklin Sirmans 230 Fab 5 Freddy Interview: Franklin Sirmans 254 Scores James Brandon Lewis Thomas Sayers Ellis 258 Chronology: In Time with Basquiat 276 List of Illustrations 281 Suggested Readings and Doc