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The Offs First Record
Cover By Jean-Michel Basquiat
"The moment graffiti met punk."
David Ferguson, Impresario, CD PRESENTS, Record Company President
A Brief History of the Work
A year after the release of “Beat Bop” (Rammellzee, K-Rob) in 1983, Basquiat was involved in another record cover, this time for seminal punk rock outfit The Offs.
Basquiat illustrated the work for the album cover for his friends, The Offs, a Punk/ Ska band originally from San Francisco. The band moved to New York and soon became a regular act at underground venues such as The Mudd Club and Max’s Kansas City, which were popular with artists in the East Village scene.With the help of their friend Andy Warhol, the band was signed by San Francisco punk label, CD PRESENTS, and their first record was released in 1984. David Ferguson, President of CD PRESENTS, chose to reverse the original image done in blue and black oil stick, to white on black, keeping more in line with the punk sensibility of the times.In Basquiat’s typical Neo-Expressionist, primitive, instructions-infused style, the artist repeats the band’s name three times in the composition, placing the album’s simple title at the bottom. Using images and symbols found throughout his work during the 1981-1983 period, in The Offs First Record, raw oil stick lines delineating the body extend to form a crown of thorns above the skull. This same imagery is also found in a cycle of totemic figures realized during this early period: perhaps emphasizing the band’s role as hero or martyr caught in the travails of the then shifting cultural landscape, as Basquiat too saw his career experiencing this same shifting landscape.David FergusonThe San Fransisco Chronicle referred to Ferguson as the "godfather of the unorthodox", adding that Ferguson "...not only thinks outside the box — he crushes it, dances on top of it, reinvents it and calls it whatever he likes. He has spent his life making trouble." The East Bay Express wrote, "David Ferguson's life story reads like an encyclopedia of the underground."In 2007, David Ferguson and CD PRESENTS were preparing a 1000 copy Limited Edition reissue for 2009 in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the original record released in 1984. Due to the financial crisis of 2008 which devastated many businesses, including CD PRESENTS, the release was cancelled and the records remained in storage.For more information on David Ferguson, please click on the link below:Exhibition History
In 2015, John Brower of Venice Modern Art, a longtime friend of Ferguson, purchased the entire inventory and rights to the record cover art by Basquiat from CD PRESENTS. Both records and screen prints were then showcased and made available at The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto during the Basquiat exhibition Now's the Time.
Most recently, the vinyls were available exclusively at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City during Basquiat's "Defacement": The Untold Story Exhibition on view from June 21st until November 6th 2019.
The vinyls were also available for purchase at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris during the Basquiat exhibition from October 2018 to January 2019, and at the Brant Foundation in New York City during the Basquiat Exhibition on view from March 2019 to May 2019.
The original blue and black oil stick illustration by Basquiat for the band The Offs sold for $302,500 (lot 579, sale 8792) in the Sotheby’s Contemporary Day Auction, November 10, 2011.
This lot was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity by the Authentication Committee of The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Excerpts taken from:
Art Record Covers, Taschen, 2017
Fondation Louis Vuitton /Jean-Michel Basquiat 2018
English FLV Gallimard -
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35th Anniversary edition of the original record release
1984-2019
Limited Edition of 500
Marbled Emerald Green Vinyl
180 gram
The Offs First Record
Cover by: Jean-Michel Basquiat
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The Offs First Record
Cover Art by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Art Record Covers / TASCHENFrancesco SpampinatoHardcover, 29.3 x 29.3 cm, 448 pagesMarch, 2017 -
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The Offs First Record
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Now’s the Time
Feb 2 - May 10, 2015
AGO
Art Gallery of Ontario
Basquiat Pop Up
Installation View
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The Offs First Record
Jean-Michel Basquiat
October 3, 2018- January 14, 2019
Fondation Louis Vuitton
Installation View
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The Offs First Record
Jean-Michel Basquiat
The Brant Foundation
New York City
March 6th-May 15th 2019
Installation View
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The Offs First Record
Jean-Michel Basquiat
The Brant Foundation
New York City
March 6th-May 15th 2019
Installation View
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The Offs First Record
Cover Art by : Jean-Michel Basquiat
Guggenheim Museum
New York City
Installation View
Basquiat's "Defacement": The Untold Story
on view at the Guggenheim Museum
June 21st - November 6th, 2019
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UNTITLED (THE OFFS)black and blue oilstick on paper1981This work is an early example of the imagery found in a cycle of totemic figures realized during the period 1981-1983.
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The Offs First Record
(detail)
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Untitled, 1981Jean-Michel BasquiatAcrylic, oilstick, paper collage, and spray paint on canvasDetailExample of Crown of Thorns used extensively in Basquiat’s work during a cycle oftotemic figures realized between 1981-1983.
Similarly the Crown of Thorns over a totemic figure is used on the cover of The Offs First Record. -
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Offensive Orange, 1982
Jean-Michel BasquiatDetailAcrylic and Oilstick on wood -
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Pork, 1981Jean-Michel BasquiatDetailAcrylic, oil, and oilstick on wood and glass door -
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Sotheby's sale listing of original art, 2011
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Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
The Offs First Record (1984)
Medium: Offset lithograph on cover stock
Size: 12"x12"
Printer: Stoughten Inc, Los Angeles, CA
Publisher: David Ferguson, CD PRESENTS
Limited Edition Vinyl Record
2500 copies, 1984
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