Jean-Michel Basquiat (untitled), 'Bad', 1979:
Basquiat produced this original collage for the fourth issue of author Luc Sante’s downtown-art scene publication, ‘Stranded’ (New York, 1980). The work was constructed under Basquiat’s post SAMO alias, ‘Man Made’, and was originally given to Sante to be xeroxed as an edition. The work falls directly in line with the 'cut-up' aesthetic of the artist's Anti-Product Cards and mixed media collages of the same year. Whereby, Basquiat took a found photograph (c. 1940s) of 13 white businessmen, covered their eyes with marker stripes, cut out their mouths and jaws and pushed down the resulting tabs and filled the gap with red ink; wrote "BAD" in black felt-tip marker across the top, and affixed them to a ragged sheet of found grid paper with masking tape, adding a glued-on cigarette butt at the lower right of the photo.
Medium: Mixed-media collage affixed to lined paper
Overall Dimensions: 11.5 x 13 inches (Image: 8 x 10 inches).
Unique. One of a kind. This is the master work pre-xerox.
Provenance: Luc Sante
Unsigned (annotation on lower left is that of Sante's circa early 1990's)
Condition: The work is presented as originally constructed by Basquiat using found objects in fair condition; as such, tear to mid-lower left and top center; scattered soiling, surface and creasing marks; fading, edge-wear and losses to lined paper; minor wear to back-side. Otherwise, well-preserved and stored in an archival setting for the last 39 years. Hand-written "Bad" is likewise well-preserved.
Literature/References:
- 'Stranded' issue four index (Spring 1980). Basquiat's identity is confirmed as 'Man-Made' midway on page (see image 7 in listing).
- Printed Matter, NY (October 2017; see image 5 in listing)
- 'Basquiat Before Basquiat' (MCA Denver; see Sante, p.54, or image 6 in listing)
- 'Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat' (Howl Arts 2018; essay: 'Stranded' by Luc Sante)
- 'An Intimate Look at Jean-Michel Basquiat's Early Days' by Luc Sante (Village Voice 2/8/17)
- 'Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat,' by Sarah Driver (documentary, 2018; features above referenced index and interviews with Luc Sante)
Basquiat as 'Man Made', see:
- Glenn O'Brien "Graffiti '80;" High Times, June, 1980 (p. 53-54); "Jean-Michel Basquiat who is known to many as SAMO, had changed his alias to Man Made"
- Sotheby's S2 Catalog & Sale, "Man Made" (May 2013)
- Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, the Studio of the Street (Diego Cortez; 2007 p. 80)
- The Last Time I Saw Basquiat (NYR Daily 9/3/16; essay by Luc Sante)
- Basquiat: Boom For Real (Barbican; Nairne, Buchhart & Johnson p.26)
Intertextual References:
'Bad' motif also appears in the following 1979 works:
- "Stupid Games, Bad Ideas" (color xerox; see Basquiat: Boom For Real pg. 108)
- Basquiat (untitled) "Test Pattern" (original drawing and xerox; see Basquiat: Boom For Real pg. 147)
- Basquiat (untitled) "Gumby Is Bad" t-shirt (worn by the artist at Canal Zone 1979)
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