SKATEROOM X JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Set of 5 skateboards
silkscreen on canadian wood
7 9/10 x 31 9/10 inches (20 x 81 cm)
Executed in 2014.

NOTES:
From the personal collection of Maripol, this set of five silkscreened skateboards brings to life Jean-Michel Basquiat’s vibrant early 1980s paintings in a unique and innovative format. Produced by The Skateroom in collaboration with the Jean-Michel Basquiat Foundation and Artestar, the series reproduces Basquiat’s imagery onto high-quality skate decks.

Each board captures Basquiat’s signature layering of bold lines, intense brushwork, and fragmented figures rendered through silkscreen technique, preserving the raw energy and urgency of his original works. The use of skateboards as a canvas echoes Basquiat’s roots in street art and graffiti culture, emphasizing the intersection of art, urban life, and youth culture.

Basquiat was a central figure in this downtown milieu, moving fluidly between the street and the studio, the gallery and the nightclub. In re-contextualizing his work through an object emblematic of youth rebellion and street culture, this set captures the visceral pulse of a New York in flux—where art, music, fashion, and resistance collided nightly.

Maripol and Jean-Michel Basquiat were close contemporaries in the downtown New York art scene of the early 1980s. They met through their mutual circles at venues like the Mudd Club, Area, and the Fun Gallery. Basquiat, then transitioning from SAMO tagger to rising art star, often appeared in Maripol’s photographs, which captured the raw energy of the era with her signature instant-film aesthetic. Maripol documented many of his early years, both in public and private settings, providing a rare and personal visual record of his life.