#nicholas taylor

[scholarofgloom]

[agelessphotography]

Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York, Nicholas Taylor, 1979

[ohyeahpop]

Rare Jean-Michel Basquiat photographs, 1979 - Ph. Nicholas Taylor

[figureskatingcostumes]

Rachel Brozina and Nicholas Taylor skating to Zorba the Greek for their Junior free dance at the 2014 US Nationals.

(Sources: Robin Ritoss and icenetwork)

[dispactke]

Jean-Michel Basquiat, An Intimate Portrait, photographs (1979) by Nick Taylor (Basquiat’s bandmate from the experimental noise group, Gray).

- Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University brochure (2004).

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The photographs in this exhibition reveal an intimate look at the friendship between artists Nicholas Taylor and Jean-Michel Basquiat, a camaraderie that was born under the pulsating lights of New York's famed Mudd Club in lower Manhattan in January 1979. The Mudd Club was a beehive of creativity, where the likes of Fab Five Freddy, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Keith Haring, and Madonna frequented before they became famous. These historic photographs, shot on just one role of film, are being exhibited and traveled for the first time in their entirety. These images are portals into the life of an artist who was on the threshold of taking the art world by storm. Countless essays and reviews have been written about Basquiat and his work. This exhibition focuses on the portrait of a man, an artist, and, most importantly, a friend. Taylor's and Basquiat's friendship endured many years, through the ups and downs of Basquiat's rise to notoriety in the art world until his untimely death in 1988.

These striking images, taken by Taylor, of a nineteen-year-old Jean-Michel Basquiat, unspoiled by the art-star celebrity that was to reveal itself in just a few short years. The accompanying text panels, written by Taylor, document the friendship the two shared and also serve to contextualize the historical significance of Basquiat in the early 1980s. Taylor's personal revelations and memories are shared with great candor. Looking back on these images, twenty years later, there is a subtle aura of predetermination for Basquiat. His actions and poses, captured by Taylor, appear aloof or casual upon first glance. These are, in fact, rarely publicized visual records of Basquiat's character and use of body language to express his emotions and personality, which, in turn, reflect his serendipitous struggle for fame and respect. Basquiat struggled for fame, fortune, and, most importantly, inclusion into the very closed society that was the self-serving art world of the early 1980s.

Basquiat painted as he lived - full throttle - everything, all the time. He had little sense of self-control, nor did he seek out any realm of moderation. In retrospect, his paintings are aggressive and fragmented, radiating nervous energy and enthusiasm for the chaotic world of which he was a part. Existing simultaneously in his work is a sense of excitement, imagination, and exploration of visual language. His frustration in trying to assert himself as a black artist into a predominantly white art culture was continuously filtered into the context of his work. Readily juxtaposing images of modern and primitive icons and text, he illustrated how he directly experienced the white bourgeois class identification with commercial black culture.

His volatile relationship with the commercial art world was symbiotic; each required the other to survive. Although there is much documentation on the overtly aggressive nature of the commercial art world, Basquiat appeared to give as good as he got. His ambition and eccentric behavior, coupled only with an obsessive hunger for fame, recognition, and, most of all, hunger for respect, thrust him into the vacuous world of New York in the early 1980s, where there was little hope of escape - let alone, survival.

Ultimately, this exhibition is an exploration of Jean-Michel Basquiat as a person who became one of the most prolific artists of our century.

-Michael J. Beam Curator of Exhibitions, Castellani Art Museum

Nicholas Taylor first met fellow artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in January 1979, at the famed Mudd Club in lower Manhattan. The two quickly became close friends and, together with Michael Holman, Wayne Clifford, and Vincent Gallo, writer and director of Buffalo 66, formed the musical art band Gray. Gray's sound was experimental, an energizing mix of ambient sounds and instrumental exploration. Gray had a cool, funky sound that Glenn O'Brien of Andy Warhol's Interview magazine dubbed as "possibly the best band on the planet."

[mademoiselleclipon]

A Young  Jean‑Michel Basquiat

[famelessmag]

NICHOLAS TAYLOR. Jean-Michel Basquiat through Nicholas Taylor, 1979/2014.

Photogravure, 79 × 53.5 cm.

[figureskatingcostumes]

Heather Buckner and Nicholas Taylor skating the Kilian compulsory dance at the 2010 Novice US National Championships.