Jean-Michel Basquiat embodied downtown New York in the Eighties, its kinetic energy, explosion of color and emotion — and excess. All of it is on full display at New York’s Gagosian Gallery, which is holding a major exhibit of the artist’s works until April 6. With over 50 paintings, the show’s a brilliant mix of pop culture, abstract expressionism, racial commentary and his early graffiti roots. Basquiat may have famously noted that his work was 80 percent anger, but there’s plenty of humor here too. Keep an eye out for Onion Gum, the Joker and Riddler.

Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold), 1981 by Jean-Michel Basquiat © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ADAGP, Paris/ARS, New York 2013

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