Today everyone has a cellphone with a camera, and photos of art events proliferate. Back in the 1980s such images were far less common. Unless the event planner hired a professional photographer, photo documentation was left to invited guests who might be carrying a camera.
This event, most likely a dinner reception after an art opening, attracted an A-list crowd: artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, singer Debbie Harry, clothing designer Stephen Sprouse, gallerist Mary Boone, poet Allen Ginsberg, actor Matt Dillon, and others. The date is most likely either 1987 or 1988.
There is something irresistible and compelling about small color snapshots taken by amateurs, and then processed and printed by companies like Kodak. Their artless immediacy reads as an authentic record of a meaningful moment.
Gallery 98 now includes these relics from pre-digital times in our inventory of art ephemera. You can see more on our Art World Snapshots page.
Stephen Sprouse, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Debbie Harry
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry and Jean-Michel Basquiat embracing (behind), Stephen Sprouse and others look on
Debbie Harry, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Seated for the dinner. Allen Ginsberg (far background), Keith Haring, Mary Boone (to right)
Seated for the dinner. Allen Ginsberg (far background), Keith Haring, Mary Boone (to right)
Pictured above are six of the ten snapshots taken at this unidentified art event from the late 1980s. All ten snapshots are posted here.
