Google Arts & Culture Features Rare Basquiat Exhibit

NEW YORK - June 29, 2018 - PRLog -- Starting today, Google will house online an art exhibit about the life and work of young Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Google Arts & Culture is a new portal that allows visitors to discover artworks, cultural treasures, historical sites, and stories from all around the world like never before, in extraordinary detail. Users will be able to view hidden details on images displayed in ultra high-resolution, experiencing the artwork far beyond what is visible to the naked eye.

Cultural venture Caribbeing worked with Google Cultural Institute to produce a virtual exhibition "Life With Basquiat," an extension of the exhibit Caribbeing produced as part of their Brooklyn Museum residency last summer.

Life With Basquiat, which includes photos from the collection of Basquiat's friend and ex-lover Alexis Adler, reveals an experimental period before the artist's meteoric rise in the art world, when Adler lived with Basquiat on East 12th Street in 1979 and 1980. Adler's photographs offer a rare glimpse into the private life of the storied New York painter and street artist, as told through photographs, art objects and images of artwork from Basquiat's teen years, including high school drawings and graffiti art.

"Throughout his short life, Jean Michel was a prolific artist, working with whatever he could get his hands on to create," Adler said. "I'm happy to share my collection with the community via Caribbeing and Google as a way to pay tribute to the brilliance of my dear friend."

The Google Arts & Culture exhibit also includes an unreleased film clip from Eric Justin Johnson of Basquiat painting on the Lower East Side, as well as a condensed essay by Sur Rodney Sur.

Born in Brooklyn, Basquiat was the child of Caribbean immigrants: his father was Haitian and his mother was Puerto Rican. He rose to fame as an artist in his 20s before dying in 1988 at the age of 27.

The Life with Basquiat exhibit on Google Arts & Culture, which can be accessed at https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/JgJScHMWjY2bKA, will be available on an ongoing basis via any browser and on any type of device, allowing the exhibit to be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.

"Partnering with Google to house this incredible exhibit will allow Basquiat's life and works to touch so many more people around the world," said Shelley Worrell, founder of Caribbeing. "We couldn't be happier to partner with Google to make this special collection available to a global audience."

More information about the Life With Basquiat exhibit on Google Arts & Culture is available at https://artsandculture.google.com/ and at https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/caribbeing.

Life With Basquiat premiered last summer at "Caribbeing House," a mobile shipping container previously located at Brooklyn Museum that reopened this month at Parkside Plaza, just south of Prospect Park. Caribbeing House hosts art and cultural activities throughout the Summer and Fall. Due to popular demand, this season's opening exhibit again features Life With Basquiat.

In addition to running Caribbeing House, Caribbeing will also produce the exhibit "Caribbean Power" at Brooklyn Museum August 1 through 31. The exhibition will explore Caribbean identities and the legacies of contemporary figures such as Julia Alvarez, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Biggie Smalls, Shirley Chisholm, Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey.

About Caribbeing
Caribbeing is a thriving cultural organization that stands at the crossroads of the film, art, and culture. Based in Brooklyn, AKA the "Little Caribbean," Caribbeing spans contemporary culture and is a hub for creativity and collaborations with some of the Caribbean's most visionary talent and innovative brands. Now in its eighth year, Caribbeing has grown into a global movement. Learn more about Caribbeing at http://www.caribbeing.com. Follow Caribbeing on Facebook at Facebook.com/caribbeing.