FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

THE BISHOP GALLERY PRESENTS “The 12th STREET EXPERIMENT: PHOTOGRAPHY OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT”

 

Photographer Alexis Adler Partners with The Bishop Gallery to Exhibit Rarely Seen Images of the Young Artist from 1979-1980.

 

Brooklyn, April 22, 2019 – There are very few people that were fortunate enough to have an intimate relationship with Jean- Michel Basquiat and to experience the thought process behind his works. Photographer Alexis Adler was one of those people. In the exhibition “The 12th Street Experiment: Photography of Jean-Michel Basquiat”, Adler shares a series of photographs showcasing Basquiat working in and around the apartment they shared, in the East Village on 12th Street in New York City, between 1979 and 1980. The exhibit which also shows stills of never before seen artwork opens on May 3rd and runs through June 13th at The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Adler, the former girlfriend and confidant of Jean-Michel still resides in the apartment they once shared. When asked about the candid images being showcased in the exhibition Adler states, “some of them feel almost too intimate to show in public.” The collection which includes images of original artwork, also contains images of works that no longer exist. The photographs show a young Jean-Michel before he became the accomplished artist and household name he is today. Their vibrant East Village neighborhood served as inspiration for their impromptu photoshoots and performance art sessions. Items found throughout their neighborhood would also serve as Jean-Michel’s canvas as well as areas in their apartment. He would paint on the walls, floors, doors, and even on the refrigerator.

 

About the Artist-

Alexis Adler is an accomplished Embryologist. Select photos captured by Adler are currently a part of a museum tour, entitled “Basquiat Before Basquiat: East 12th Street 1979-1980”. The exhibition has traveled to Denver, Detroit, St. Louis, and is currently open at the Schunck Museum in Holland. Adler’s photos have also been exhibited at a solo show in London, in various group shows, as well as several publications including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Adler was also recently was featured in a documentary about Jean-Michel entitled “Boom For Real”, by filmmaker Sarah Driver. Adler contributed commentary as well as her photographs to the project.

 

About The Bishop Gallery

The Bishop is a contemporary art gallery located in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Launched in 2012 by Erwin John and Stevenson Dunn, Jr. The Bishop Gallery aims to provide emerging and established artists with an intimate space to connect with their audience, while the expanding the Brooklyn art scene. We embrace artists of varying cultures, genres, and means of artistic expression. We hope to forge a lasting relationship with the artists who show in our space and the surrounding communities. Art can be a catalyst for bringing together communities and inciting conversations of change and development. We want to be the venue, where the ideas that bring about change happens.

 

Media Contact  

If you would like additional information about “The 12th Street Experiment: Photography of Jean-Michel Basquiat” to schedule a private viewing, or an interview, please contact us via email at info@bishoponbedford.com.