Jean Michel Basquiat " Hey Hey Hey " First Edition Large Hardcover Pop Art Book

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This Jean Michel Basquiat " Hey Hey Hey " rare first edition large hardcover Pop Art book is an incredibly … Read more This Jean Michel Basquiat " Hey Hey Hey " rare first edition large hardcover Pop Art book is an incredibly special and unique book to add to your library collection.

The hardcover book with orange linen covered boards, silver tone foil embossed cover and spine titles, and dust jacket is published by Detour Gallery, Red Bank New Jersey. Printed in Tinton Falls New Jersey in 2021. It features a rare collection of early Basquiat artworks, with compelling accompanied text authored by Ken Schwartz.

Jean Michel Basquiat ( 1960 - 1988 ) was born in Brooklyn New York in 1960. His early creative career was as the Street Graffiti artist nick named " Samo " in the late 1970's on New York City's Lower East Side. By the early 1980's with the help of his friend Andy Warhol, Basquiat began to make his emotionally charged, aesthetically arresting Neo Expressionist paintings. In 1992 The Whitney Museum of Art held a major retrospective exhibition of the life works of this great American Contemporary artist and master of social commentary.

His work focused on suggestive dichotomies such as wealth vs poverty, integration vs segregation, and inner vs outer experience of the human condition. He appropriated poetry, drawing, painting, and married text and image with Abstraction and Figuration. Basquiat's works had strong social commentary and deeper truths about the individual and the power structures of racism, and criticism of colonialism and support for class struggles.

In the pages of this volume is an important discovery of pre-fame Jean Michel Basquiat drawings. Forgotten, they were hiding in plain sight for forty years by the artist's close friend, Tyler Watts. Actually she forgot she had them. There are 48 of his drawings, all interpreted and analyzed. Photographically detailed is Jean Michel Basquiat's method of painting and obsessively redoing. There are several monumental discoveries made during color spectrum dissection. Most remarkable : discovered were several sketches, later used in some of his most important paintings, including the one used on the front of the book's dust jacket.

Included is a stream-of-consciousness remembrance from the original owner of the collection. She talks about the first time they met when she asked Basquiat what he was drawing. He replied he was making junk art. Tyler writes of the craziness and fun they had together with many well-known people.

This book was published to expand on Basquiat's oeuvre. The draftsmanship, the colorization, the conjuring of dichotomies, the young artist's understanding of so many disparate ideas and ideologies are astounding. This treatise on the work has hundreds of illustrations that become self-revelatory. As the artist could not be here, it is endeavored that this special book would speak for Jean Michel Basquiat himself.

The rare out of print large format hardcover art book measures 9 1/4" W X 12 3/4" H X 1" D, with 359 pages. It features 204 color and black & white illustrations, including several multi page fold-outs. The volume is further enhanced with an illustrated list of works.

It is in excellent " like new " clean condition, consistent with age, light signs of handling, and light minor wear. Please see photos for condition reference. It is now being offered here for an excellent price. See less