Two new Banksy murals have appeared in London over the past weekend (September 16-17, 2017). Both works are a tribute to Brooklyn artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who is about to open his first retrospective at London’s Barbican Center titled,”Basquiat: Boom For Real.”
One of the Banksy pieces shows a Ferris wheel and includes a note referencing the show. It reads, “Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican, a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls.” The second work, pulls from Basquiat’s 1982 painting “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump,” showing the human figure in the painting being frisked by police.
There is a good synergy between Banksy and Basquiat. Beside having names that begin with the letter “B,” both are rooted in street art and share a penchant for exposing societal disparity with an eye on exposing hypocrisy often through a wry lens.
The Basquiat tribute follows work displayed by Banksy at an anti-arms race exhibition at Art the Arms Fair, held in east London in September.
The Basquiat show opens at the Barbican on September 20, 2017 and runs through January 28th.
Basquiat Show Preview
