Tory Akers (The Art Newspaper) reports that the stretch of Great Jones Street that is home to the late artist’s final home and studio has received a commemorative co-naming in honor of late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Akers points out that this is not the first time a city street has been named after the artist. “Place Jean-Michel Basquiat, a public square in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, was christened in the artist’s memory in 2018.”
The block of Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette Street in downtown Manhattan has been named Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in honour of the late Neo-Expressionist artist. A fixture in the bustling East Village scene who became a global art star, Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27 in the home and studio he rented from his friend Andy Warhol at 57 Great Jones Street from 1983 to 1988.
On Tuesday (21 October), members of the New York city council and members of the artist’s family, including his sister Lisane Basquiat, gathered to unveil the Jean-Michel Basquiat Way street signs that will as a reminder of the artist’s indelible mark on New York culture.
Basquiat’s final home is now adorned with a commemorative plaque and has been rented out by the actress Angelina Jolie as a showroom and curatorial space for her fashion brand Jolie Atelier.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 in Brooklyn to Haitian and Puerto Rican parents. After running away from home as a teenager and dropping out of alternative high school, he made his name as a graffiti tagger under the pseudonym SAMO, emblazoning Lower Manhattan walls with cryptic, satirical slogans and poetry. [. . .]
For full article, see https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/21/jean-michel-basquiat-way-great-jones-street-co-named-manhattan
[Shown above, photo by Benjamin Sutton: The new Jean-Michel Basquiat Way sign on Great Jones Street and Bowery.]