From CONTEMPORARY ART TOLEDO
Contemporary Art Toledo and Owens Community College will present Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat. This extraordinary exhibition focuses on the creative community Jean-Michel Basquiat helped galvanize in gritty, pre-AIDS, downtown New York—A time when decay and dissolution fueled a boom in creativity and where the definition of fame, success, and power was not based on money, Facebook likes, or self-promotion.
Zeitgeist complements and amplifies the film by Sara Driver, BOOM FOR REAL The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat released from Magnolia Pictures last May. Driver teamed with culture critic Carlo McCormick and Mary-Ann Monforton associate publisher of BOMB Magazine, along with the New York gallery Howl! Happening to curate this expansive exhibition which features works and ephemera by Basquiat himself and more than 3o friends and contemporaries, including Nan Goldin, Kenny Scharf, Al Diaz, and Lee Quiñones.
Zeitgiest runs from January 25 through March 22. A public reception for the exhibition will be held on Feb. 9 from 5-7 p.m. followed by a public screening of the film BOOM FOR REAL The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Special guest for both the exhibition reception and the film will be curator Carlo McCormick.
Known today for his outsized role in the rise of Neo Expressionism and recent record breaking auction sales, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat was first recognized for his graffiti work in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the emerging artistic circles there, the focus was not on creating content the established art market could readily digest and profit from, but on creating a community that stood in opposition – fostering unfiltered, uninhibited expression.
Basquiat’s work illuminated the contradictions of society – its opposing realities, inequalities, injustices – through a mix of disparate artistic traditions and unrefined, raw emotion fueled by the punk and hip-hop movements of the time. In only a few years, he went from supporting himself through panhandling and selling painted t shirts and postcards while homeless, to being one of the most celebrated artists in New York, bringing the street level politics of what was an underground counter-culture collective with him into the spotlight.
Zeitgeist offers a unique opportunity to revisit the explosive, pre-fame period of Basquiat and his contemporaries. For these creators, to be a penniless published poet or a musician gigging at a local club was the height of success. In the rawness of the work, the focus on street art and graffiti, and the experimentation and cross-pollination of styles and disciplines, the era has become a flash point for younger generations seeking to learn about and understand the authenticity, closeness, and community expressed in the work of the artists in this truly unique exhibition.
Featured artists and friends in both the film and exhibition include:
Alexis Adler, Charlie Ahearn, Ted Barron, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Carrithers, Henry Chalfant, Brett De Palma, Al Diaz, Barbara Ess, Coleen Fitzgibbon, Fab 5 Freddy, Futura, Robert Goldman aka Bobby G, Godlis, Nan Goldin, Michael Holman, Becky Howland, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Jim Jarmusch, Justen, Ladda, Ann Messner, Mary-Ann Monforton, James Nares, Glenn O’Brien, Franc Palaia, Lee Quiñones, Walter Robinson, Christy Rupp, Luc Sante, Kenny Scharf, Paul Tschinkel, Robin Winters, and Bob Gruen.
Exhibition Dates: Friday, January 25 – Friday, March 22
Location: Terhune Gallery, Owens Community College Center for Fine and Performing Arts
Address: 30335 Oregon Road, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
Public Reception and Movie Screening: Saturday, February 9
· Reception – 5-7 p.m.
· Movie Screening of BOOM FOR REAL The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat – 7 p.m. (run time 1 hour, 19 minutes)
· Q&A with curator Carlo McCormick, following the movie
Terhune Gallery Hours and Information: www.owens.edu/fpa/terhune
