Happy Olympics all!
Just in time for the Olympics … Gagosian in London (Davies Street) will be rolling out a collaborative painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol called “Olympic Rings” (1985).
From their press release:
Warhol’s contribution to the collaborations can be seen in his distinctive technique of hand-painting ready-made iconography, an early practice that he revived with Basquiat. In the case ofOlympic Rings, he made several variations of the Olympic five-ring symbol, rendered in the original primary colors. Basquiat responded to the abstract, stylized logos with his oppositional graffiti style. Between clusters of Warhol’s Olympic rings, he imposed a bold, dark, mask-like head, like a medallion in a link chain, undoubtedly an allusion to African-American star athletes of past Olympic Games, such as Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos.
Caption: Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol “Olympic Rings” (1985)
