Photography by Paige Powell
January 16 – February 22, 2014
76 Grand
Street
New York,
NY
Suzanne
Geiss Company is pleased to present Jean-Michel Basquiat, Reclining
Nude, an exhibition of rare candid photographs of Jean-Michel Basquiat
taken by Paige Powell. This is the first presentation of photographs from
Powell’s comprehensive archive, a significant chronicle of 1980’s art and
culture in America. Her work offers uncommon glimpses into the lives of artists
and friends who participated in the cultural transformations of the era.
On view is a series of black and white 35mm nude portraits of Jean-Michel
Basquiat made in 1983 in Powell’s then Upper West Side apartment. Like many
nights during Powell and Basquiat’s two year relationship, the images show the painter
relaxed on a futon, drawing while watching cartoons. Earlier that year, Powell
used the apartment to show work by Basquiat, AOne, and Rammellzee. Several of
the paintings are visible on the walls of the living room where Basquiat reclines.
The photographs were taken with Powell’s Canon camera, which she carried with
her everywhere.
Paige Powell moved to New York City from Portland, Oregon in 1980 with the
intent of working for Interview
Magazine or Woody Allen. A few weeks after she arrived, she landed both jobs. Interview stuck, and Powell was
Advertising Associate (later Associate Publisher) and a contributing
photographer and writer. Through her work, she became a close friend and confidant
of Andy Warhol, founder of the publication, and a fixture at his Factory.
Powell is a photographer, curator, and animal rights activist. She lives and
works between Portland, Oregon; New York; and Los Angeles. She is in the
beginning phase of organizing her extensive archive of photographs.
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