Word works of Jean-Michel Basquiat in:
SED TANTUM DIC VERBO (JUST SAY THE WORD)
20 September 2014 – 20 December 2014
Potsdamer Straße 77–87, 10785 Berlin
Sugar Ray Robinson, 1982.
About the exhibition:
The directors of Balain/Southern Berlin are delighted to announce the group exhibition SED TANTUM DIC VERBO (JUST SAY THE WORD), conceived and curated by the American writer and editor Glenn O’Brien. The exhibition examines the use of words in art and brings together artists from the 1960s to the present day who all have/had a strong relationship to the curator. In the following paragraphs Glenn O’Brien describes his personal selection:
„The transformation of the media landscape over the last half-century created a revolution in communication, not merely mass communications, but how individuals perceive the world and express themselves in return. Visual collage fields and holistic perception replaced literary linearity and its logical bases. The immutability of the written word was overshadowed by the instant mutations of oral speech. As an unexpected consequence words began to appear in formerly pictorial frames, as if language itself had become an unfamiliar landscape requiring reappraisal and transformation.
God Law, 1982?1983?
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) lifted words from cheap signage in Alphabet City, from Hitchcock movies, from hobo camps and jazz songs, he made poetry that spoke from his pictures, word chains repeated like scientific formulas or magic spells.
His gallery in New York, Cheim & Read, published in 2005: ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat. In Word Only’. Interesting catalogue with additional information about his word works.
Also in this exhibtion works of Stefan Brüggemann, Dan Colen, Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe, Charles Gaines, John Giorno, Wayne Gonzales, Douglas Gordon, Brion Gysin, Ray Johnson, Atsushi Kaga, Joseph Kosuth, McDermott & McGough, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince, Rob Pruitt, Ed Ruscha, Tom Sachs, Dash Snow, Lawrence Weiner, Christopher Wool and Aaron Young.
Jimmy Best….., 1981.
Eroica, 1982?
Untitled, 1983.
Copyright: Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Courtesy: Cheim & Read, New York.