Jo Lawson-Tancred reports for Artnet News: “Jean-Michel Basquiat’s former studio, now home to Angelina Jolie’s fashion label, has inexplicably been coated in pink paint. Jolie, who began renting the space in July, had pledged to leave its facade untouched.”

Painting the town pink? Regulars strolling around the Bowery in New York won’t have failed to notice a layer of pink paint has been rolled all over the former studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat at 57 Great Jones Street. Even a memorial plaque dedicated to the iconic artist was targeted, according to the East Village news blog EV Grieve.

Basquiat leased the property from his friend Andy Warhol from 1983 until his death in 1988.

The space is currently being rented by the Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie, who plans to use the three-story building as the headquarters of Atelier Jolie, her new fashion label. “A privilege to be in this space,” she wrote on Instagram. “We will do our best to respect and honor its artist legacy with community and creativity.”

In keeping with this sentiment, Jolie made a point of not wanting to change the building’s exterior, which was covered in graffiti that paid tribute to the legacy of Basquiat, who began his career making street art. In July, artist Adrian Wilson added a massive crown, one of Basquiat’s signatures, to its facade and apparently cleaned its plaque. [. . .]

[Photos above Basquiat’s former studio at 57 Great Jones St. was covered in pink paint in August 2023, courtesy of EV Grieve.]

Also see https://hyperallergic.com/842222/who-did-this-to-basquiats-old-manhattan-studio/