Spirits rebellious

IN PARIS, FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON PRESENTS TWO IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS ON JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT AND EGON SCHIELE. Brilliance and excess, intuition and creativity, obsession and talent. If «out of chaos comes a dancing star», the work of Egon Schiele and Jean-Michel Basquiat provides its perfect illustration. Against the backdrops of fin de siècle Europe and Eighties New York, the innovative thrust of the Viennese Secession and the Manhattan underground. Two periods that produced genuinely expressive art, in which the theme of identity forcefully emerges. The creative adventures of Schiele and Basquiat reveal interesting affinities: the passion for the human figure and the vibrant energy of lines; the same urge to defy conventions. The same desire for recognition, so that art, the mirror of self-perception, «can belong to eternity». Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (until 14 January) presents two retrospective exhibitions curated by Dieter Buchart with art direction by Suzanne Pagé. The curatorial approach, in chronological and thematic order, examines the work of these two meteoric figures in historical perspective. About 120 pieces, including gouaches, paintings and drawings offer an overview of the output of Egon Schiele (18901918), the great Expressionist who captured the many nuances of the human soul. The show in four rooms focuses on the evolution of the nervous, tormented lines of the Austrian artist. «Very few artists have approached line drawing with such intensity and virtuosity», Buchart says. On the other hand, 30 years after his death, the modern timeliness of the art Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) continues to amaze us. The tribute at Fondation Louis Vuitton covers four levels (almost 2,500 square meters) of the iconic building designed by Frank Gehry. Over 120 works narrate this New York legend, from the early graffiti to contemporary stardom. The show opens with the trilogy Heads, brought together here for the first time, and closes with Riding with

Death (1988), one of his last, emblematic masterpieces. The entire career of Basquiat unfolds: the works linked to boxers like Cassius Clay and Sugar Ray Robinson, the love of music, from Charlie Parker to Jimi Hendrix. There are also the Collaborations, works created with Andy Warhol, all the way to the large formats (1985-1987) that mix acrylic paint, oil pastels and collage. Visitors can also get a glimpse of Basquiat as colorist, with the painting In Italian (1983), and all the heroic magnetism of his idols. «His inimitable touch, the use of words, phrases, numbering. Hip-hop concrete poetry», Buchart concludes.