a-loftier-way-to-live

151 Wooster: Where The Basquiat At?

Sheila · 12/14/07 01:05PM

Sometimes, the idea of cutting-edge art is worth more than the actual existence of said art. In the case of the new "luxury lofts" of 151 Wooster, the virtual proximity of a mural by Basquiat and friends might be worth a lot. The apartments are going for about $8 million (with a maintenance of $42,000 a year). The Times reported back in June: When they were tearing into the place, a mural was discovered on the eighth floor behind layers of sheetrock and plumbing. It was, if you're into this sort of thing, beautiful—a collaboration between Jean Michel Basquiat, Fab 5 Freddy, Futura 2000 and others. Basquiat was friends with a previous dweller, art-magazine editor Edit deAk, who lived there in the early 80s when it was probably little more than a coldwater flat. The mural has been renamed "The 151 Wooster Wild Style Wall" and is now the centerpiece of "Gallery 151." And last night was the grand opening!