Here, we see a spray-painted photo-booth strip showing Jean-Michel Basquiat with his then girlfriend Paige Powell, which provides a rare glimpse into his dynamic multimedia practice. Likely taken in the early 1980s, this strip found its way into his studio as the second and fourth frames appear to have been intentionally blacked out with spray paint; the paint dripping down along the right edge suggests that the strip was hanging upright when it was sprayed. A double-sided narrative, featuring this seemingly happy couple, unfolds. In the first frame, they pose in an intimate embrace. The second frame is entirely obscured, the paint partially impinging on the third frame, which depicts a grinning Basquiat with his eyes closed as Powell kisses his cheek from behind. More than half of the fourth and final frame has been sprayed, leaving visible only her hat and sleeve.

The photo booth, which was used by Warhol for his earliest experiments with photography, is the only known photographic tool that Basquiat incorporated into his creative practice. Early in his career in 1979, when he was just 18 years old, Basquiat, in collaboration with artist Jennifer Stein, produced a series of small collages with paint, ink, found materials and photo-booth portraits, which they photocopied then mounted on card to resemble postcards. Examples of these early mixed-media collages, as well as previously unseen film strips and photo-booth portraits were included in the 2017 exhibition Basquiat: Boom for Real at the Barbican Art Gallery in London.

This photo-booth strip was originally in the collection of Henry ‘Jay’ Tobler (1966-2000), an art writer and gallery director who worked at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in the 1990s.