The Brant Foundation will open its new East Village Gallery doors on March 6, 2019 in what was the home/studio of the late artist, Walter De Maria, who passed away in 2013. Inaugural exhibition ~ works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, will be curated by the founder of The Brant Foundation, Peter Brant, and art historian Dieter Buchhart. Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”
It is expected that the East Village Gallery location will have exhibitions curated from Brant’s own collection, although the Basquiat exhibition also includes objects on loan from international museums and private collectors. It is also expected that the East Village location and Greenwich, Connecticut will be distinctly different in exhibition content.
The historic building located at 421 East 6th street was originally a Con Edison substation built in 1920, before becoming the home and studio of artist Walter De Maria from the mid 1980s until his death in 2013. Purchased in 2014 by Peter Brant, the renovated 16,000 square-foot building features 7,000 square-feet of exhibition space across four floors, two new gardens adjacent to the structure, and a landscaped roof terrace. We believe the building may still have several interior fixtures from the Con Edison era, including a through-floor pulley system and one can’t help but notice the stunning multi-story window on the front of the building. Brandt, industrialist, businessman, philanthropist and avid art collector, is owner and chairman of Brant Publications, Inc. (founded in 1983), publishing four magazines and a quarterly ~ Interview, Antiques, Art in America, the quarterly ARTnews, and Modern. In addition, Brant produced several films including Basquiat (1996), Pollock (2000), and co-produced the PBS documentary Andy Warhol: A Documentary (2006) among others.
The exhibition, Jean-Michel Basquiat will be on view from March 6 to May 15, 2019, located at The Brant Foundation, 421 East 6th Street, between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Fondation Louis Vuitton.
Admission to The Brant Foundation East Village Gallery will be free with a required ticket purchased online. Tickets for the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition will be available in late January, 2019.
The parent Foundation, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, opened in Greenwich, Connecticut in 2009 on the site of a converted 110-year-old stone barn. Both the Greenwich, Connecticut and the East Village, NYC buildings were renovated by architect Richard Gluckman.
Within walking distance of the new gallery is a building once owned by Andy Warhol, which was the home and studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat. 57 Great Jones ~ now a restaurant. Basquiat lived and worked there from 1983 until his passing in 1988.
Check out an exhibition on his friend, Andy Warhol ~ A to B and Back Again at The Whitney on Gansevoort Street on view to March 31, 2019.
Take a walk to the Bowery & Houston Street and check out The Bower Wall. On view now ~ #TatsCru.