Today, the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the New York Council comes together to rename a stretch of downtown Manhattan in honor of the famed artist, whose blazing career ended there in the 1980s.
From 1 p.m. onward, the span of Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette will be known as “Jean-Michel Basquiat Way.” While the famed post-Impressionist had in his prime a bicoastal star presence, the location is especially poignant: Basquiat rented the second floor space from Andy Warhol, and lived and worked there from 1983 until his death in 1988.
In 2016, Village Preservation, an architectural conservation society, in collaboration with Two Boots Pizza, installed a plaque on the building’s facade commemorating the famed former resident, reading, “Basquiat’s paintings and other work challenged established notions of high and low art, race and class, while forging a visionary language that defied characterization.”
The pale brick exterior is home to more tributes: vibrant graffiti tagged in a nod to Basquiat’s earliest creative persona as one half of the graffiti art duo SAMO. The SAMO tag was a steady presence in his paintings even as they scaled to monumental heights, began tackling issues of police brutality and anti-Black racism, and made millions at auction.
“The co-naming recognizes Jean-Michel Basquiat’s enduring legacy as a visionary Black artist who helped redefine modern art through his bold, expressive, and socially conscious work,” reads an official press release. “The space [at 57 Great Jones Street] served as his home and studio during some of the most prolific years of his career, anchoring him in a neighborhood that was at the heart of New York’s creative energy in the 1980s.”
The ceremony includes remarks from members of Basquiat’s family, including his sisters Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, as well as City Council officials, prominent cultural figures and local community members.
