Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat – Exhibition Invitation, Agnès B. Skyline, Paris (2006)

An original invitation to Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat, held at Agnès B. Skyline, 19 rue des Frigos, Paris, as part of the Festival d'Automne à Paris. Running from 21 October to 21 November 2006, the event was a multi-disciplinary activation of Basquiat's legacy — spanning film, music, and curated programming — with an opening concert by No Wave icon James Chance.

The recto features a celebrated still from Downtown 81, the posthumously completed film starring Basquiat, directed by Edo Bertoglio and produced by Maripol. Shot on the Lower East Side, Basquiat stands before graffiti-covered walls bearing the phrase Like an Ignorant — a raw, street-level image that encapsulates the urban visual language at the heart of his practice.

The verso adopts a bold graphic identity: distressed stencil-style numerals, high-contrast red and black typography, and the unmistakable Downtown 81 / F.O.B. (Friends of Basquiat) branding. The involvement of Agnès B. — a long-standing champion of Basquiat and the downtown New York scene — grounds the piece within the fashion-art crossover that defined his cultural reach.

A rare artifact connecting Basquiat's early 1980s world to its 21st-century institutional recognition. Essential for collectors of street art, No Wave, and post-war avant-garde ephemera.

• Original 2006 exhibition invitation — double-sided
• Agnès B. Skyline / Festival d'Automne à Paris
• Features film still from Downtown 81 (dir. Edo Bertoglio, prod. Maripol)
• Opening concert: James Chance
• Rare Basquiat-related ephemera