The Manhattan building that once housed the studio and living quarters of the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has found a new tenant. Last week, actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie announced she had secured 57 Great Jones Street, a two-story structure owned by Andy Warhol for 20 years, for a new creative venture featuring fashion workers underrepresented. With 6,600 square feet at her disposal, Jolie works to create “a community of creativity and inspiration, regardless of socio-economic background” by providing resources and support to an international network of tailors through the ‘Atelier Jolie.
John Roesch and Garrett Kelly, the two Meridian Capital Group brokers who brokered the deal, confirmed Hyperallergic that Jolie signed an eight-year lease on the historic building that was on the market for $60,000 a month since last november. Pop artist Andy Warhol bought 57 Great Jones Street in Manhattan’s Noho neighborhood in 1970 before renting it to his close friend and fellow artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, in 1983. Basquiat both lived and made art in space until his untimely death. at age 27 in 1988.
Basquiat, a Brooklyn native of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, worked prolifically in space as he continued to challenge the boundaries between so-called “high art” and “low art” through his style of d street art that addressed the themes of race, class, religion and mortality. During the 1980s, Basquiat and Warhol shared a very close friendship, operating as collaborators, confidants, and even creative competitors. Their friendship was widely publicized, but fractured after the poor reception of their joint exhibition also allowed Basquiat to be characterized as “an art world mascot.” Although the two never officially reconciled, Warhol’s death in 1987 is said to have contributed to Basquiat’s downward spiral alongside his intense rise to fame and mistreatment as a black man on the art scene. Basquiat was found dead in the Noho apartment on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose.
In 2016, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation installed a plaque in honor of Basquiat on the exterior of the building, long tagged by graffiti artists paying homage to the late visionary. Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman described the building as “a unique and significant part of New York City’s cultural heritage and landscape”, expressing pride in its historic designation.
“We hope this building will remain intact and in some way accessible to the public forever, to allow anyone who wishes to appreciate its historical significance,” Berman said. Hyperallergic.
The first floor of the building houses an exclusive, invitation-only Japanese restaurant called Bohemian. Neither Atelier Jolie nor the restaurant could be reached for inquiries.
Roech said Hyperallergic that Meridian Retail Leasing brokered the deal with Jolie for about six months. “We received a ton of offers from reputable operators, but his concept seemed the best fit for the building and its history,” he said. Perhaps in a nod to Basquiat’s reuse of existing materials for the surfaces of his work, Atelier Jolie is committed A commitment to sustainability through the use of “leftovers, quality vintage materials and dead animals”, focusing on the production of “quality heirloom clothing with personal meaning”.
The news drew a mixed response on social networks, with some locals lamenting a celebrity takeover of the historic building and others hailing Jolie’s vision for the space. The Atelier would maintain the graffiti in honor of Basquiat’s early movements with fellow artist Al Diaz as the street art duo SAMO. Roesch noted that although the building had been whitewashed in the past, it was “immediately tagged”. Jolie “mentioned that she loves street art and potentially would like to preserve it,” he concluded.
