A few months ago we told you about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s old studio that has become the headquarters of Atelier Jolie, Angelina Jolie’s new brand. Today, artist Roberto Palacio makes us talk about this place again, in a not uncontroversial way. In fact, recently, on the occasion of the spring equinox, the artist completely painted the wall of the now Atelier Jolie in pink, and we are not talking about just any pink but Stuart Semple‘s Pinkest Pink. In fact, it has been a few months since Palacio intervened on the facade of the building, which is already full of artistic interventions left there as a tribute to Basquiat, attracting a lot of criticism. On the one hand, a large part of public opinion thinks that the artist is defacing the place, think of the headlines of the various newspapers that call his operation an “act of vandalism,” on the other hand there is Palacio who claims that he is “channeling” Basquiat’s spirit. But let us explain further and understand what is behind it.
Is Palacio the reincarnation of Basquiat?
Indeed, the similarities between Roberto Palacio and Jean-Michel Basquiat are several, as are the coincidences. Starting with the most shocking one, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988 while Palacio was born exactly two days later, moreover in his own neighborhood, Flatbush in Brooklyn. Both with Caribbean ancestry and both with a passion for comic books. In short, given these similarities today Palacio feels entitled to operate in an extreme manner on the wall of the former studio, no doubt as a form of homage to his beloved Basquiat, but something makes us think he is just looking for his moment of glory and attention. Then again, Arnet reports a quote from Al Diaz about his meeting with Palacio, underscoring-albeit in a positive way-his hunger for popularity. «What struck me most about this guy was his obsession with becoming famous.»
What does Marvel have to do with it?
A curious aspect of this whole affair is Palacio’s point of view, which he explains in a video on Instagram. The artist says he was inspired by something Robert Rauschenberg did in the 1950s when he erased a drawing by William de Kooning, creating the conceptual work Erased de Kooning. But there is more. Palacio writes that his interventions are “poetic justice, a silent protest,” he also claims to be inspired by the Marvel character Brother Voodoo who performs voodoo rituals to create ancestral planes, his intention is thus to bring Basquiat’s spirit back to the spirit realm.
In short, Palacio’s intentions do not seem too clear and his “erased Jean“-as the artist himself calls them-does not seem to end there. Meanwhile, the criticism continues. Also on Artnet, Sinclair the Vandal stated that he would never disrespect others «to get some attention, like this guy is doing». Again, it is Wayne Rada of the Lisa Project who declared that «these actions are a dick move […] it’s shallow, pathetic, and unnecessary». On the other hand, this operation is capable of opening a debate. What do you guys think?
