In the mid-1980s Andy Warhol, whose star was fading, and talk-of-the-town Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of paintings. When the works were revealed, they were mocked and criticized as a sad publicity attempt and naked opportunism. It’s not exactly a surprise that attitudes have changed about the collaboration. It is a surprise that this summer those eight works were on display in Kinderhook.
Thank Jack Shainman Gallery for bringing the works upstate and for taking over the former school building in Kinderhook and turning it into the perfect setting for the Basquait-Warhol collaboration and a slew of other enchanting individual works by the artists. The exhibit drew a diverse array of connoisseurs–many youthful, who were inspired to see such celebrated works so close to home.
Meanwhile, MASS MoCA: Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art enjoyed a banner year, with exhibits by the artists Laurie Anderson, James Turrell, Jenny Holzer and Rafa Esparza.
The Hyde Collection continued to capitalize on its post-war wing added in 2017 with a series of exhibitions that highlight the gallery that is home to works by Pablo Picasso, Warhol, Keith Haring and Ilya Bolotowsky.
