Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
Main Platform
Graphite with silver pencil and yellow crayon on wove paper, 1986, signed in pencil at lower right, sheet 1030 x 720mm (40 ½ x 28 ¼ in)
Provenance
The Artist
Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, acquired directly from the above
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

At the centre of the brain is a structure called the Thalamus, it is often referred to as the "Main Station' or the "Grand Central Station" of the brain. This is because virtually all incoming information from both within and outside of the body goes through it to the cortex, and in turn virtually all areas of the cortex project through it. For Basquiat a resident New Yorker the concept of the brain as a grand train station ties together multiple influences on him: his mother had given him a copy of Grey's Anatomy and this along with a fascination with the anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci was often a source of inspiration for his work. In Main Platform Basquiat acknowledges the concept of the brain as a station, and maps out his "platforms" he splits the brain laterally positioning the two halves almost as if they were two separate islands, a map which in many respects mirrors that of his home the New York Subway map's division of Manhattan Island and Long Island.