'Jean Michel Basquiat Dancing at The Mudd Club', New York City, 1979:
This rare Basquiat photograph was taken from Nicholas Taylor’s well-documented portfolio exploring his friendship with Jean-Michel Basquiat - a friendship which began when both collaborated on the historic New York No Wave band, “GRAY” in the late 1970s; before the two briefly lived together in the East Village. Selections from Taylor's portfolio were most notably exhibited as part of the Basquiat retrospective at London's Barbican in 2017 and have been featured in numerous noteworthy publications on Basquiat.
Archival inkjet print on 310gsm fiber based paper.
11 x 14 inches (including borders).
Hand signed & numbered from an edition of 50.
Provenance: Obtained directly from artist.
Shipped flat using protective materials.
Lot 180 gallery is an authorized dealer rep of Nick Taylor.
Taylor’s insightful photographs of a young Basquiat have been featured in numerous world renown publications, exhibits and documentaries surrounding Basquiat, among these:
"How Music Powered Basquiat," The New York Times, 9/22/17
Sotheby's "Untitled, 1982;" catalog, May, 2017
Artnet, 9/18/17: Debunking Basquiat’s Myths
The Mudd Club: Richard Boch, 2017
Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, The Studio of the Street; Diego Cortez
King for a Decade: Jean Michel Basquiat; Taka Kawachi
Exhibits:
Basquiat: Boom For Real, The Barbican, London, 2017/2018.
More on Nicholas Taylor:
Nicholas Taylor (American, b. 1953) is a renowned photographer and musician. Taylor moved to New York in 1977 to pursue a career as a photographer and it was through the vibrant New York art scene that he came to know the young artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat. It was, in fact, his intimate portfolio of photographs documenting his friendship with Basquiat that rocketed Taylor to fame. The two would collaborate in the No Wave band “Gray” before Taylor launched a successful career as a DJ famous for track-looping. His track “Suicide Mode” would later be used in the soundtrack for Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film “Basquiat."
Circa 1981, Basquiat payed homage to Taylor by incorporating "Nick Taylor" and "DJ High Priest" (a title anointed him by Basquiat) into two separate drawings. While everyone else in the downtown tries to take credit, it was in fact Taylor who first introduced Jean-Michel to Madonna - at the Mudd Club - the very place this one of a kind image was captured.
More on The Mudd Club:
In the 1970s New York City, uptown had the glitz of Studio 54 and downtown had the Mudd Club: a legendary, downtown art scene venue known for pushing the boundaries of nightlife. The space became a natural collision of fashion, art, music, and literature. And the list of guests who walked through the front door reflected that scene: musicians like Grace Jones, Madonna, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry, Fab Five Freddy, Marianne Faithfull, The Ramones, The Talking Heads, and Nico; fashion luminaries such as, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, and Gia Carangi; artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol; and literary stars like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.
The Mudd Club stood at 77 White St. at the corner of Cortlandt Alley when the area below Canal St. was considered an unsafe, no-go zone. As Richard Boch, a former doorman for the venue, wrote in his memoir, “I’ve always referred to the Mudd Club as the 'scene of the crime'...It was the night that never ended: the day before never happened, and the day after, a long way off. There was nothing else like it.”
Offered by Lot 180 Gallery New York. Based in New York City, Lot 180 brings to market a treasure trove of carefully curated Pop Art for collectors of all levels - specializing in works and rare collectibles from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, KAWS & more: https://www.1stdibs.com/dealers/lot-180/ Follow us @lot180
