Keith Haring . . . actually got down on his knees because of my height and drew this [light bulb character]. I could feel him etching against my back. This is not an image that you see replicated if you were to look at [Haring's] body of work, so it really speaks to his improvisation and the spirit of where we were at that particular time on that night.
- Joy Bouldin.
Marker pen and ink on a black leather jacket (1984)
An exceptional collaboration artwork. Keith Haring contributes three drawings, a dark green figure diving head first from the right lapel, a dark green snake on the left lapel and a larger light green dancing lightbulb man to the jacket back; Futura adds a large old school tag above Haring in white on the back, a spraycan character drawing underneath Haring on the right lapel, and the scribble tag in green on the left lapel; Fab 5 Freddy takes the left arm in green and dates his tag 1984; Cey (see also this) draws a stylish "C" outline in silver, dated 1984 to the back and tags in silver on the left lapel; Kano (who went on to be one of the most influential A&R representatives in hip hop, working for Tommy Boy, Elektra and Warner) draws a character and tags "Kano love" & "Fresh Kidd" in silver on the back of the right sleeve; Stash contributes several drawings to the back in green including a character and TV screen, also a "destiny" (DestroyEverySubwayTrainInNewYork) outline in green to the bottom left front and possibly the "joystick" outline in pink and green above (although this has futura-esque highlights and elements); Energy (NRG) and Africa131 (Cmor / Afrochild) also tag. There is a silver full body character underneath the front lapel and a couple of other tags that as yet we are unable to attribute. An exceptional artwork bringing together the elite movers and shakers of the 1980s art and club scene. This was Joy's favourite jacket and the one she considered the most important. Provenance: Joy "Joystick" Bouldin. Joy was a key figure in the New York club scene of the early 1980s. Aged 18, she arrived in New York and, eschewing her plans to go to college, found work at the Mudd Club. Here she was befriended by Andy Warhol, who introduced her to his inner circle, including Jean-Michel Basquiat (for whom she modelled) and Keith Haring. In 1982 she quit her job in a law firm to "work the elevator" at Danceteria. Deciding who to let in to the private club gave her a key position at the forefront of the emerging culture of the time, positioned at the intersection between fashion, Pop Art, Hip Hop and graffiti. Like key door-people everywhere, Joy knew everyone and everyone knew her. She came up with the idea of having the best known and most applauded graffiti writers, pop artists and musicians tag or draw on her clothing as they came in and out of the club. In doing so she created a wearable original artwork merging fashion, art and music that now also serves as a significant historical document
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