THE DESTINATION
Basquiat x Warhol at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center through Jan. 7
Lower East Side

THE JOURNEY
You all know how to get to the Lower East Side. The address is 421 E. 6th St., between 1st Avenue and Avenue A.

THE DETAILS
The foundation is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11a to 6p. Tickets are required for the event. Get those here.

THE BACKGROUND
This show is an absolute must-see. More on that in a minute, but it is worth a visit just to see the building — a century-old former Con Ed substation with 40-foot ceilings and the industrial pulley system crossing each gallery. After Con Ed left in the mid-80s, the building was the home and studio of famed artist Walter De Maria until his death in 2013. Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Tang Architects then renovated the building for Peter Brant to create 7,000 square feet of exhibition space across four floors. It opened in 2019. There are two new gardens adjacent to the structure and a landscaped roof terrace.

The Basquiat and Warhol show is on all floors and has a couple dozen paintings and installations that were completed by the two artists together. They are all genius. (Though my absolute favorite might be the portrait of Warhol by Basquiat.) The two met in 1982 at Warhol’s Factory and would meet regularly to work on monumental canvases, resulting in over 160 collaborative works created between 1983 to 1985.The paintings are loaded with both artists’ unique iconographies.

From the catalog: “Warhol’s screen-printed advertisements and cultural symbols are effaced by Basquiat’s iconic figures and signs; newspaper headlines included by Warhol are obscured and rewritten by Basquiat; scenes painted in Basquiat’s conceptual Neo-Expressionist style are joined by Warhol’s precise appropriations of brand logos. The artists also influenced each other: Warhol at times returned to his painterly beginnings, and Basquiat increased his use of the silkscreen-printing technique.”

PIT STOP
Depending on the hour, the recommendation from E.: definitely catch Abraco at 81 East 7th for house-made hot chocolate and orange cardamon cake. We grabbed a glass of wine at the French bistro Lucian on First Avenue, which was very East Village.