A powerful new Basquiat exhibition celebrating the Swiss chapter of iconic artist Jean-Michel Basquiat opens at Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz. On view until March 29, 2025, this exhibition examines the artist’s complex relationship with Switzerland and its impact on his work. This in-depth look at the period when Basquiat spent time in the Swiss art scene shows how his time in Europe shaped his artistic development.
In the prestigious modern art gallery in St. Moritz, this exhibition is a rare chance to see the full development of Basquiat’s artistic evolution in works based on his encounters with the Swiss environment and culture. Basquiat’s bold, expressive style is brought to the fore by Hauser & Wirth’s careful curation and how his distinctive language remains a global art world phenomenon.
Basquiat’s Swiss Chapter: A Fusion of Art and Environment
The Basquiat Swiss art exhibition focuses on the artist’s time in Switzerland when he mixed elements of his American roots with his European influences in a vibrant cultural scene. Basquiat’s love for Switzerland and its avant-garde art scene was shaped, as tradition would have it, by his visits to the great art fairs and institutions based in the country at the time.
Basquiat’s Swiss chapter, though, was a time of experimenting. His earlier works were heavily bound to his life in New York City. Works created during his visits to Switzerland are the exhibition’s focus, which gives a view into how his environment influenced his painting. Basquiat’s observations of Swiss life and culture were knitted into his art through a shocking amalgam of European and United States influences: his raw energy, bold imagery, and signature.
Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz Basquiat Exhibition: What to Expect
- Swiss-Inspired Works: The exhibition features works inspired by Basquiat’s time in Switzerland. It also includes works referencing his time in the country’s art world and his interactions with Swiss collectors, galleries, and institutions.
- Multimedia Approach: Basquiat’s Swiss art also includes various multimedia works depicting Basquiat’s unique visual language, and his celebrated paintings are included in his Swiss art. You can expect dynamic, vibrant canvases and more intimate works, all of which convey his complex narrative and emotional depth.
- Cultural Crossroads: The exhibition also addresses Basquiat’s broader cultural relevance and the continued global relevance of his work. Hauser & Wirth focuses on Basquiat’s Swiss period to show how Switzerland became a nexus of various artistic movements. Basquiat could make work referencing European styles in this place even as he remained defiantly American.
Basquiat’s Legacy: A Modern Art Icon
Almost everything the late Jean-Michel Basquiat did in a short yet unique artistic life would still impact generations of artists even a decade after his death. He was part of a new contemporary art phenomenon, where the lines between graffiti, abstraction, and figuration converged in a revolutionary manner and brought the rise of street artists to global art icons. Particularly in his works, Basquiat’s prevailing palette is often vibrant, his subjects’ arrangements chaotic, and the social equivalences he made — whether through violent images of his past, the human body itself, or cracked symbols — were powerful, unexpected, and utterly new.
For the first time, the La Basquiat exhibition at Hauser & Wirth offers a unique chapter of the artist’s career, showing how he consolidated such heterogeneous backgrounds without compromising his voice. Basquiat’s time in Switzerland broadened his international art audience, clarifying his future work and legacy.
Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz Exhibition details
- Exhibition Dates: Until March 29, 2025, now on view
- Location: St. Moritz, Switzerland, Hauser & Wirth
- Artist: American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
- What to Expect: A powerful showing of Basquiat’s Swiss-influenced art, including paintings, mixed media works, and explorations of the artist’s European experiences.
Reasons Why You Should Visit the Basquiat Exhibition in St. Moritz
It allows a rare glimpse into the artist’s Swiss period when the cultural landscape of Switzerland influenced his working practice. The perfect setting for this exhibition, Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz’s combination of contemporary elegance and historical significance, is ideal for presenting one of the most important artists of the 20th century.
Don’t miss seeing Basquiat’s Swiss chapter in this thoughtful exhibition. This show is designed for everyone, from the art inquisitive to the curious about what all the fuss is about with Basquiat’s global impact.
