Over the years Gallery 98 has handled some of the best examples of Basquiat ephemera. Most of these items have already sold but since we are a research site for art historians, as well as an online gallery for collectors, we often leave sold items posted on the site. This online exhibition of Basquiat ephemera features these, as well as items still in our inventory; our goal is to provide an easily accessible survey of important Basquiat ephemera.
The thirty-eight Basquiat items featured here do not comprise a complete collection of the printed ephemera produced during his life. They do however give a good idea of his career highlights and of the group exhibitions that he participated in alongside other artists in his milieu.
A particularly rare example of Basquiat ephemera is the color xerox that he created in conjunction with his 1982 exhibition at the Fun Gallery (New York). The Fun Gallery regularly sent out a small number of color xeroxes to announce their exhibitions – an exorbitant practice given the price of color xeroxes in the early 80s. The Basquiat xerox is particularly noteworthy, since it does not contain either the artist’s name or the location of the exhibition. Only those in the know knew what it was. That remains true today.
