LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the Brooklyn Museum upon the occasion
of celebrating the opening of "Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks" on April
2, 2015

WHEREAS, It is the intent of this Legislative Body to recognize those
events which add strength, vigor and inspiration to the cultural diver-
sity and quality of life in the communities of the State of New York;
and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
the Brooklyn Museum upon the occasion of celebrating the opening of
"Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks", to be held at a reception on Thurs-
day, April 2, 2015; and
WHEREAS, The Brooklyn Museum improves the cultural quality of life for
the community by supporting individual artists, such as Jean-Michel
Basquiat, by displaying his body of works in an exhibition entitled,
"Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks", April 3-23, 2015; and
WHEREAS, Brooklyn-born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat filled numerous
notebooks with poetry fragments, wordplay, sketches, and personal obser-
vations ranging from street life and popular culture to themes of race,
class, and world history; and
WHEREAS, The first major exhibition of the Jean-Michel Basquiat's
notebooks, "Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks" features 160 pages of these
rarely seen documents, along with related works on paper and large-scale
paintings; and
WHEREAS, A self-taught artist with encyclopedic and cross-cultural
interests, Jean-Michel Basquiat was influenced by comics, advertising,
children's sketches, pop art, hip-hop, politics, and everyday life; and
WHEREAS, Jean-Michel Basquiat's collection, "Basquiat: The Unknown
Notebooks", emphasizes the distinct interplay of text and images in his
art, providing unprecedented insight into the importance of writing in
his process; and
WHEREAS, The pages of the notebook contain early renderings of iconic
imagery, tepees, crowns, skeleton-like figures, and grimacing faces,
that also appear throughout his large-scale works, as well as an early
drawing related to his series of works titled Famous Negro Athletes; and
WHEREAS, The "Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks" exhibition is organized
by the Brooklyn Museum and is curated by Dieter Buchhart, and guest
curator Tricia Laughlin Bloom, former Associate Curator of Exhibitions,
Brooklyn Museum; and
WHEREAS, It is most fitting that we take time to celebrate the arts of
our Nation, to honor our artists, and to express our appreciation to
everyone who patronizes the arts; and as we celebrate the arts, we cele-
brate and give thanks to our American freedom, the only atmosphere in
which artists can truly create and in which art is truly the expression
of the soul; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Brooklyn Museum upon the occasion of celebrating the opening
of "Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks" on April 2, 2015; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Brooklyn Museum.