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Jean-Michel Basquiat
Engadin

Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz

Via Serlas 22 / 7500 St. Moritz (Suisse)

14. Décembre 2024 – 29. Mars 2025
Mardi – Dimanche / 11:00 - 19:00

The Dutch Settlers

Jean-Michel Basquiat "The Dutch Settlers", 1982, Acrylic and oilstick on canvas, 183 x 549 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Nicola Erni Collection. Photo: Reto Pedrini Photography

Première exposition personnelle de Jean-Michel Basquiat à Hauser & Wirth de St. Moritz, intitulée «Jean-Michel Basquiat. Engadin», qui se tient du 14 décembre 2024 au 29 mars 2025. L'exposition présente des œuvres créées lors des séjours de Basquiat en Suisse ou inspirées par ces voyages, fusionnant la nature et la culture de l'Engadine avec la métropole de New York. L'exposition explore la relation de Basquiat avec la Suisse, qui a commencé avec sa première exposition à la Galerie Bruno Bischofberger en 1982 à Zurich, et s'est poursuivie avec de nombreux voyages dans différentes régions suisses.

Un catalogue de l'exposition sera publié par Hauser & Wirth Publishers, avec une introduction de Bruno Bischofberger et un texte de Dieter Buchhart. L'exposition bénéficie du soutien d'une équipe de conservateurs internationaux spécialistes de Basquiat, dont Dieter Buchhart et Anna Karina Hofbauer.

La présentation qui suit décrit également certaines des œuvres exposées, telles que «The Dutch Settlers» (1982), «Skifahrer» (1983), «See» (1983), «Big Snow» (1984) et «To Repel Ghosts» (1986), en soulignant comment Basquiat a intégré des éléments de la culture et du paysage suisses dans son travail. L'exposition comprend également des collaborations avec Andy Warhol et Francesco Clemente, comme «In Bianco» (1984).

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Exploring various artistic motifs that combine the natural and cultural landscape of the Engadin with the metropolis of New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s first solo exhibition dedicated to the paintings he created in and inspired by his visits to Switzerland opens on 14 December at Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz. ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat. Engadin’ traces the renowned artist’s connections to the country, which began in 1982 with his first show at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, returning over a dozen times to St. Moritz, Zurich and Appenzell, as well as other places in Switzerland. The Engadin region in particular continued to fascinate Basquiat long after his return to New York, resulting in a body of work that captures his impressions of the Swiss Alpine landscape and culture through the lens of his highly distinctive and personal artistic language.

‘Jean-Michel Basquiat. Engadin’ will be accompanied by a catalog from Hauser & Wirth Publishers, featuring a foreword by Bruno Bischofberger and a text by Dr. Dr. Dieter Buchhart to give visitors a unique insight into this specific chapter of one of the most important artists of the 20th Century. The exhibition is supported by Dr. Dr. Dieter Buchhart and Dr. Anna Karina Hofbauer, internationally renowned curators and Basquiat experts.

About the exhibition

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1960 and coming of age in the downtown, post-punk artistic scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Basquiat drew on the diversity and intensity of New York City within his multi-disciplinary practice. His expressive paintings combined bold text and imagery from his expansive references across art, film, history and music, as well as his experiences of everyday racism as a young Black man in the US.

After his first exhibition with Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in 1982, the same year Basquiat became one of the youngest ever artists to participate at Documenta in Kassel, the influences of the disparate cultural landscapes of New York City and Switzerland began to take shape in his work, incorporating the motifs of ski lifts, fir trees, mountains and German phrases into his expansive visual lexicon. ‘From then on, Jean-Michel Basquiat often visited me in Switzerland, where he particularly liked it. About half a dozen times in Zurich and exactly seven times in St. Moritz, four of them in the summer’, says Bischofberger. Basquiat was captivated by the Engadin’s vast natural landscape, cultural history and the hospitality of the Bischofberger family. Perhaps what drew Basquiat most to this part of Switzerland was, as Dr. Dr. Dieter Buchhart writes, ‘the contrast between the pulsating life, the clubs, the street noise, and the breakneck speed of the metropolis New York and the ‘discovery of slowness’ in the unique, overwhelming landscape of the Engadin.’

Jean Michel-Basquiat, Brook Bartlett and Bruno Bischofberger

Jean Michel-Basquiat, Brook Bartlett and Bruno Bischofberger at the Cresta Klubhaus in St. Moritz on January 30, 1983.
Photo: Christina Bischofberger © Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Männedorf-Zurich, Switzerland.

One of the earliest works on view in the exhibition is the monumental painting ‘The Dutch Settlers’ from 1982. Composed of nine canvases, the painting is a prime example of Basquiat’s innovative approach of marrying William S. Burroughs’ ‘cut-up’ technique with a method akin to sampling technology used in hip hop. The montage of nine canvas panels enabled Basquiat to assemble, combine and recombine different image fields – creating a multi-layered work that emanates a visual rhythm described as an ‘Eye Rap’ by art historian Robert Storr. The artist paints powerful motifs which reference the African Diaspora and slavery (evoked through words such NUBIA and TOBACCO) alongside images of the Engadin, depicting fir trees, a mountain road, as well as an ibex, the heraldic animal of the canton of Graubünden and native to the region. This mountain iconography can also be seen in the playful works ‘Skifahrer (Skier)’ and ‘See (Lake)’ on view in the exhibition. The former depicts a comic-like figure on a bright red background and the latter the local landscape at night, both painted in St. Moritz a year later. These works were part of a series that Basquiat made for a dinner with collectors in Bischofberger’s ‘hunting lodge’ as the artist called it, meaning the family’s home in St. Moritz. Beside photographs of the Engadin by Albert Steiner, there was no modern art hanging in the dining room that season.

Skifahrer

Jean-Michel Basquiat "Skifahrer", 1983, Oil on canvas, 70 x 90 x 2 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Collection Carmignac, Photo: Thomas Hennocque

In the winter of 1983/1984, during one of Basquiat’s visits to the Engadin, Bischofberger and the artist began discussing the idea for a collaboration between Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Francesco Clemente. The three artists each created four paintings and a drawing, which were subsequently transported between them to complete. ‘In Bianco’ (1983) showcases the clearly distinguishable artistic contributions from all three, demonstrating how each artist reacted respectfully to the parameters of the others. As Buchhart notes, ‘the cornerstone for this important collaboration was laid in St. Moritz’, marking a turning point in Basquiat’s artistic practice and proving Switzerland to be of great historical significance for the artist in more ways than one.

Big Snow

Jean-Michel Basquiat "Big Snow", 1984, Oil, acrylic, felt-tip pen and oilstick on canvas, 168 x 151.5 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Private Collection

See (Lake)

Jean-Michel Basquiat "See (Lake)", 1983, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Courtesy Private Collection Photo: Jon Etter

Integrating the immediate world around him with his varied encyclopaedic knowledge, ‘Big Snow’ (1984) sees Basquiat once again processing his impressions of the Engadin in conjunction with themes relating to race and Black history, combining motifs of the Swiss mountains, snow and skiing with the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 and Jesse Owens’ win of four gold medals. In 1985, Basquiat would go on to be part of a group show at the Segantini Museum in St. Moritz, showcasing his work ‘See (Lake)’ (1983) in an exhibition titled ‘The Engadine in Painting’. The latest body of work on view includes a group of monochrome paintings titled ‘To Repel Ghosts’ which Basquiat created in 1986 during his time in Zurich and St. Moritz, exploring themes of emptiness as well as spirituality in relation to the African Diaspora. Musing on what kept drawing the artist back to Switzerland, Buchhart writes, ‘For Basquiat, the Engadin meant work, inspiration, friendship, and rest and relaxation, all at the same time.’

In Bianco

Jean-Michel Basquiat / Andy Warhol / Francesco Clemente, "In Bianco", 1984, Acrylic, silkscreen, and pastel on canvas 122 x 168 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York, © Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz Picasso -- FABA -- 2024

To Repel Ghosts

Jean-Michel Basquiat "To Repel Ghosts", 1986, Acrylic on wood 112 x 83 x 10 cm
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Nicola Erni Collection. Photo: Reto Pedrini Photography

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For additional information, please contact

Maddy Martin, Hauser & Wirth, maddymartin@hauserwirth.com +44 7585 979564 (Europe)

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