Judith Peraino: “Art Bling: Warhol, Basquiat, and Hip Hop”

The Pop artist Andy Warhol (d. 1987) has had a surprising afterlife in the lyrics of hip-hop musicians, often paired with the namechecking of Jean-Michel Basquiat. My presentation will place this phenomenon in the context of Fab Five Freddie's Campbell's Soup can graffiti, Warhol's collaborations with Jean-Michel Basquiat, and other creative works and associations that paved a way for Warhol, a white and profoundly queer artist, to enter Black cultural discourse. I approach this genealogy along three intersecting vectors: skin, art, and capitalism.

Judith A. Peraino is a professor of music at Cornell University. Her publications include articles on medieval music, Blondie, David Bowie, PJ Harvey, Mick Jagger, Pussy Riot, and early synthpop. She is the author of two books: Listening to the Sirens: Musical Technologies of Queer Identity from Homer to Hedwig (2006) and Giving Voice to Love: Song and Self-Expression from the Troubadours to Guillaume de Machaut (2011), and the co-author with Tom McEnaney of We're Having Much More Fun: Punk Archives for the Present, forthcoming in 2025. Her current book project explores Andy Warhol's involvement with rock and pop musicians in the 1970s and '80s.

Admission is free - No need to purchase tickets to attend.