Gregory Siff, Jean-Michel Basquiat NYC 1986, Ricky Powell - Gregory Siff A Permanent Energy, NYC 1986 18/100, Ricky Powell Fine Art Print

Rare print by Gregory Siff on a photograph by Ricky Powell (RIP) of Jean-Michel Basquiat (RIP) in New York City, 1986.

If you do a little reaserch, you will see how much this print usually sells for.

Signed by Ricky, as Ricky has passed away, there will be no more of these ever available.

Archival pigment print on Fine Art paper.

Dimensions: 18 x 24 inches

Ed. 18/100
Published by 1xRUN, Detroit

This lot is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from 1xRUN.

Year: 2019

Condition: Mint - Like New

Often spotted beside Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, Basquiat would show up to Mr. Chow decked out in an Armani suit. He’d drink kir royale and socialize with the art-world elite. At the time of writing, he was 24. He had gone from selling drawings for $50 in 1980 to selling canvases “at a brisk pace—so brisk, some observers joked, that the paint was barely dry,” the article said. Basquiat said he worried he had become a “gallery mascot.” Not everyone knew what to make of the young Black man and his frenetic, rebellious paintings, but everyone wanted to be associated with him. Everyone still does.

Despite his outsized reputation, Basquiat’s career did not last long—he died at 27 of a heroin overdose in 1988. According to Phoebe Hoban’s book Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art, the artist left behind “917 drawings, 25 sketchbooks, 85 prints, and 171 paintings.” Nevertheless, that oeuvre has become one of the defining ones of the 20th century.

American artist Gregory Siff is best known for his highly emotive style that merges abstraction, pop and action painting. By using inks, oils and acrylic, he creates iconic elements in the form of storyboards, capturing time and nostalgia. His works have been included in MoMA PS1’s “Rockaway!”, Vans selected him to inspire students across the United States with his hand-painted “Vans Custom Culture” sneakers on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art and in luxury fashion house Saint Laurent’s F/W 2017/2018 Collection. Gregory also collaborated with revolutionary fashion brand, Pyer Moss, painting pieces live on the runway that are now archived by The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Claiming, “You can never run out of pictures to take; all you gotta do is leave your house,” Ricky Powell has been documenting artists, celebrities, models, hip hop rappers, and people on the streets of his native New York City since 1985. The self-proclaimed “original NYC street photographer” used his bold personality and beat-up Minolta to get behind-the-scenes access to groups like the Beastie Boys and Run DMC, with whom he toured, and to such downtown artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, to name only a handful of his subjects. Publications, clothing, and lifestyle brands took notice of his intimate, candid color and black-and-white shots, and commissions for the New York Times and Puma, among many others, followed. From his base in Greenwich Village, Powell continues to roam the streets, documenting his city through the people who call it home.