02
Basquiat
"I just looked at a lot of things and that's why I think I learned about art by looking at it." - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of the most talented black artists that created revolutionary pieces of work from the late 70's to the early 80's. He lived in downtown New York which was a creative heaven in the 1970's where his career started off as SAMO (Same Old Shit) partnering with Al Diaz to create conceptual graffiti. He was the writer of the duo and he was a like a street philosopher poet that wrote multiple choice questions on the walls asking complex questions about values. Then by the early 1980's, he was an international sensation in the art world. His artwork shows "vibrant, raw imagery, abounding with fragments of bold capitalised text, offers insights into both his encyclopaedic interests and his experience as a young black artist with no formal training." (Barbican)
However, his life came to a tragic end in 1988 at the age of 27, where he dies of a drug overdose. Even though his life was cut short his voice is still powerful and can be heard and seen through is work that is around to inspire and educate our generation and future generations to come as Fred Braithwaite said Jean-Michel Basquiat "lived like a flame. He burned really bright. Then the fire went out. But the embers are still hot" ( Fred Brathwaite aka Fab 5 Freddy).
01
The Story
"There are only a few artist that are pure genius with Basquiat being one”. – Mr Cédric Charbit, CEO of Balenciaga
Balenciaga, the iconic French fashion mansion has teamed up with Transavantgarde, downtown street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat for its collaboration. This collection is designed 30 years after his death to pay tribute to him and how his work revolutionized the art world with his powerful voice that tackled many issues in that time period that his still relevant to this day.
The 'Stupid Games Bad Ideas' collection is a very “unique project between BALENCIAGA and BASQUIAT." said Balenciaga CEO, Mr Cédric Charbit and The collaboration will his work that is turned into patterns from an artist that was a pure genius. The pieces of the collection will have "styles from previous seasons to showcase Basquiat innovative art, music and writing." says Balenciaga Creative Director, Demna Gvasalia.
This project will educate and tell the story of a brilliant artist to our current and future clientele. Not only will the products be works of art but the profit made from the auction pieces will 100% go to charities "to help the young artists of the future generation. " says Gvasalia.
Cristóbal Balenciaga was has a couturier like no other and his training was what set him apart from other, with his skill in every stage of the making process. He believed that a garment started from the fabric and stated that "it's the fabric that decides". With is knowledge of years knowledge he diced to open his first fashion house Eisa in 1917. He then moved to Paris in 1937 where is established the fashion house that was around until his death in 1968. In that period of time, he created amazing pieces of work inspired by is Spanish heritage.
Then in the 1950's he created revolutionary garments with shapes never before seen in women's fashion. He believed that “A couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for color, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance.” Even though the house was closed in 1968 after his death it was reopened in 1986 with new creative directors that took the foundation he laid with is creation and teaching to share it with the future generation.
"It is important to know the past in order to build the future" - Gvasalia