BASQUIAT'S DEFACEMENT/ THE UNTOLD STORY

The exhibition takes as its starting point the painting Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart) (1983), which Basquiat created to commemorate the fate of the young, Black artist Michael Stewart at the hands of New York Citys transit police after allegedly taggi ng a wall in an East Village subway station. Originally painted on the wall of Keith Harings studio, Defacement was not meant to be seen publicly or enter the art market.