Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960 - 1988) rose to prominence in the 1980s with his neo-expressionist paintings but his oeuvre really began with the street art he made in New York City’s Lower East Side in the mid-1970s.  There he developed his improvisational style that appropriates symbols and references from a wide range of sources including music, religion, and history combined with cultural and political commentary to explore the meaning of being African American in contemporary society. His iconic In Italian includes many of these word and symbols - like “crown of thorns,” “corpus,” and images of human anatomy - which point to some of these central themes concerning the individual, religion and mortality.

LigoranoReese is the collaborative name of Nora Ligorano (American, b. 1956) and Marshall Reese (American, b.1955) whose multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the present and uses technologies of our time to question how social and political systems relate, build, interact, or harm society. Included in their practice is the use of limited edition multiples to both give access of these ideas to a broader audience and to situate them in a domestic context.

Give back this holiday season with this beautiful collaboration from artist Derrick Adams and DreamYard programs. DreamYard programs develop artistic voice, nurture young peoples’ desire to make change and cultivate the skills necessary to reach positive goals. We believe that young people in the Bronx need a continuous support to help them towards positive outcomes as they navigate their educational pathway.