Dieter Buchhart on Basquiat x Warhol at Fondation Louis Vuitton

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol's first proper meeting took place over lunch in Manhattan in October 1982. Warhol took a photo of the two of them with his Polaroid and just two hours later Basquiat sent back a painting of them together. Within a year, they were making work together, and by the mid-1980s Warhol became Basquiat's landlord and patron. Their fast friendship would come to define the New York art scene.

An enrapturing display of Basquiat and Warhol's work at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris gathers over 300 artworks and documents, including 80 collaborative paintings, in addition to works by other major artists of New York's downtown arts scene in the 1980s.

On the occasion of Basquiat × Warhol. Painting four hands (5 April–28 August 2023), an exhibition three years in the making, curator Dieter Buchhart speaks with Ocula Director Eva Fuchs to discuss the pair's work.

You've curated and co-curated a number of exceptional exhibitions of Basquiat's work—including Basquiat: Boom for Real (2017–2018) at the Barbican, London—and written several books on him. What first drew you to Basquiat's work?

The first time I saw a work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, I was fascinated by the energy and complexity of his work. His use of colours, materials, signs, figures, and the mixing of painting and collage, sometimes even in a sculptural context, is unique.

Basquiat's art seemed to be limitless; absolutely free. He created his own universe and sign language in his short life. We are only beginning to shed light on all the different aspects of his amazing work.

The exhibition at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris gathers works by Basquiat and Andy Warhol. How do you view their relationship?

Basquiat and Warhol developed a very close and respectful relationship over a short but very intense period. This inevitably led to both artists influencing each other intellectually and creatively.

This influence can be seen in both their painting techniques. On Basquiat's advice, Warhol returned to hand painting, kicking off the final chapter of his artistic career, which was brutally ended by his unexpected death in 1987.

At the same time, Basquiat was using silkscreen in a group of their works, a technique that Warhol had used throughout most of his artistic career and for which he had become famous.

Why do you think it is important to draw attention to the dialogue of style, form, and subject between Basquiat and Warhol?

Basquiat and Warhol created a most unique dialogue of style, form, symbols, signs, and subjects. This exhibition demonstrates how two very different world systems collide in their joint works.

Warhol's strong focus on logos and signs of major companies such as General Electric, consumer culture, or the entertainment industry stands in clear contrast to Basquiat's preoccupation with political issues such as people of colour's identity and racism, to which he was constantly exposed as a young Black man in America.

In this sense, their collaboration created a unique dialectic space by combining their respective motifs into highly intriguing compositions with multiple layers of meaning. This example shows the exciting discourse between not only two opinions but two world systems.

How did the show come to feature work by other major artists like Keith Haring and Jenny Holzer?

We wanted to ignite the spirit of New York's downtown art scene of the 1980s and emphasise the importance of artistic collaboration during that time.

Keith Haring and Jenny Holzer were both closely associated with this scene, as were Lady Pink, Kenny Scharf, LA2, and Futura 2000—just to name a few. They were all respected individual artists, but also worked on collaborative works that were often not visible to a broader public—that's what we wanted to change.

What is next for you? Have you got any upcoming exhibitions?

There are plenty of exhibitions we are working on at the moment—let me put it this way: it's going to be colourful and intense. —[O]