Jean-Michel Basquiat (untitled) Gray 1980:
Basquiat produced this exceptionally rare xerox collage during the early days of his band, 'Gray.' The piece emanates from the collection of fellow Basquiat band member and room-mate, Nicholas (Nick) Taylor; and was catalogued in, 'Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981: The Studio of the Street', pg. 113.

The work is constructed much in the manner of Basquiat's well-documented, Anti-Product Post Cards and various other collage works of this period; whereby, in this instance, Basquiat draws over and hand embellishes a found image, then employs his famous William Burroughs style 'cut-up' technique; from here completing the piece by abstractly scrawling the word, 'Gray' above, complete with squiggly lines & markings similarly arising in other works from the period. Good condition. Excellent provenance. RARE. Not to be passed on.

Medium: Color Xerox on paper.
Dimensions: 8.5 x 11 inches; unsigned. The prose randomly appearing on the back side, is that of Nick Taylor's.
Condition: Some fading commensurate with age & medium; scattered soiling marks and minor signs of handling; some bending to lower left corner; in otherwise good overall condition.

Provenance: Obtained directly from a noted Gray band member.
COA provided by Lot 180 New York.
Unsigned from an edition of unknown; scarce; few are known to have survived.

Basquiat and Gray: A brief history:
First called Channel 9, then Test Pattern, the Basquiat co-founded group, settled on the name "Gray", after Basquiat's fondness for the textbook Gray's Anatomy. Gray was an experimental New York Noise band defined by jazz improvisation, spoken word poetry, sound looping and everything in-between. Gray members included co-founder Michael Holman, Nick Taylor, Shannon Dawson, Wayne Clifford and eventually, Vincent Gallo.

"Jean-Michel did all the posters for the band" (see Fretz, Basquiat A Biography p.40), and the group most notably played the likes of historic downtown clubs such as CBGB, The Mudd Club, Squat Theater and Hurrah's.

The late Glenn O'Brien once noted that Basquiat approached music as a, 'Picasso-Charlie Parker-Miles Davis' collage. Basquiat who played clarinet, synthesizer and a number of hybrid-instruments, once said of Gray, "We were trying to be incomplete, abrasive, oddly beautiful." A description much in-line with the nature of his art going forward.

Based on the nature of how 'Gray' is written, it is likely Basquiat was influenced by a mysterious religious driven women who key-scratched "Pray" on hundreds of New York City building doors and phone booths.

Exhibitions:
Featured in New York, New Music 1980-86: Museum of the City of New York (2021).

Literature/References:
- Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981: The Studio of the Street p.113; (Deitch Sirmans, & Vassell, 2007)
- Jean-Michel Basquiat: A Biography, (Fretz, 2010) p. 39-41
- Featured in the Basquiat documentary, Radiant Child (d. Tamra Davis, 2009)

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