Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate and VICE / Group Creative Director, Creative and Design / 2022
The ask: In support of the inaugural King Pleasure Exhibition in New York City, the Jean Michel Basquiat estate asked Vice Media Group to reinvigorate the legacy of Jean Michel with an event series and content strategy that engaged and drove attendance from a Millenial and Gen-Z creator audience.
The execution: For all nine months of the exhibition’s run, VICE activated six special events and four sponsored programs (Delta, Bombay Sapphire, Citibank) from music showcases to private dinners featuring performances and participation from emerging (Kimberly Drew, Big Freedia, King Princess) and established artists (George Clinton, Santigold, Q-Tip) within the Michael Todd room.
We rounded out the partnership with docu-style video storytelling, written editorial and media promotion across VICE’s site and social, deepening and sharing the world of Basquiat out to our audience.
The partnership’s success will continue with King Pleasure’s LA opening in Spring 2023.
Core Team: Creative Producer: Derrick Cheung / Design Director: Hannah Smith / Designer: Hunter Reed / Marketing Lead: Emma Crouchen
A immersive sound experience focused on ambient, experimental, free form jazz from a roster of Black musical artists including Laraaji and Slauson Malone, sponsored by Bombay Sapphire.
Jean-Michel described his own music to be “incomplete, abrasive, and oddly beautiful.” We explored his relationship with music through artists of today who employ methods and themes that defy what people ‘think’ Black music sounds like, inviting the public into a curated listening session in the Michael Todd Room, amplified with hifi-sound and AI powered projections that live mixed and synced Jean Michel’s visual artwork with the instrumentation of the performers.
A Night With No Name was a party series that connected Jean-Michel’s nightlife era to todays. A Night With No Name kicked-off the opening of Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure with an after-party at one of Jean-Michel’s favorite restaurants, Mr. Chow. Notable guests included King Princess, Trevor Andrew, Qween Jean and more. A Night With No Name had its second and third iteration at Good Room in Brooklyn and Public Hotel in Manhattan, with performances from Big Freedia, Venus X, George Clinton, Q-Tip and more.