Jean-Michel Basquiat’s contributions to the history of art and his explorations of multifaceted cultural phenomena––including music, the Black experience, pop culture, Black American sports figures, literature, and other sources––will be showcased through immersive environments providing a unique insight into the late artist’s creative life and his singular voice that propelled a social and cultural narrative that continues to this day.

Organized and curated by the family of Jean-Michel Basquiat, this exhibition of over 200 never-before-seen and rarely-shown paintings, drawings, multimedia presentations, ephemera, and artifacts tell the story of Jean-Michel from an intimate perspective and intertwining his artistic endeavors with his personal life, influences, and the times in which he lived.

King Pleasure is the title of a painting created by Jean-Michel in 1987 and the name of a bebop-loving bartender turned jazz vocalist whose first hit, in 1952, “Moody’s Mood For Love,” catapulted him to fame. The song was a favorite of the WBLS DJ Frankie Crocker, who played it at the close of his show every night in the 1970s. Gerard Basquiat, Jean-Michel’s father, was also fond of the tune.