Basquiat: Boom for Real!

This book was first published in hardback in 2017 to accompany the exhibition of Basquiat that was held at the Barbican Gallery and then travelled to Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt. The book has just been re-published in this paperback edition.

The title of the book (and of the exhibition) comes from a piece of graffiti applied to a wall by Basquiat and infront of which he was photographed as part of the film that became Downtown 81. His works were made in the late 1970s and 1980s in a vibrant New York scene and this book places the works in that context.  Basquiat was a key figure of this downtown New York art scene and this book reveals the works and also the other figures from that world; notably Andy Warhol but also a cast that includes Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, Keith Haring and Madonna.