For this year’s blockbuster summer exhibition Melbourne’s NGV turns their attention to New York and two of the most influential artists of the late-twentieth century: Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Kicking off in December the NGV will present Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines a dual exhibition featuring over 300 pieces, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs, from both artists’ careers throughout the ’80s.
The exhibition will begin with examples of both artists’ work from New York streets and subway stations before featuring works from their first exhibitions, their collaborations with each other and their collaborations with other notable figures like Andy Warhol, Grace Jones and Madonna. Key works that fans will recognise and soon be able to see in the flesh include Basquiat’s Untitled (1982), which in 2017 became the most expensive piece of American art ever auctioned, and Haring’s Untitled (1983).
Surveying both artists’ tragically short but influential careers, the exhibition will highlight the social commentary found in Haring and Basquait’s work. Both artists’ engaged with social issues through their work, commenting on the era’s defining issues including racism, the AIDS crisis, social injustices and consumer capitalism. It will similarly highlight the intersecting lives, work, ideas and friendship of the two kings of New York and their lasting impact on the world today.
‘Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines’ will be on show at NGV International from December 1 2019 until April 13 2020.