“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time,” artist Jean-Michel Basquiat famously said. It’s impossible to underestimate the influence of music on the work of this celebrated artist, whose paintings incorporated a hugely diverse range of cultures references. Emerging from the creative milieu of NYC in the early 1980s, the city – particularly the East Village scene – was thriving with galleries, alternative art spaces, and music venues. Basquiat moved in circles of visual artists, writers, poets, and musicians who all influenced one another in an atmosphere of creative fervour. It’s remarkable to think that this relatively small district of New York once contained the likes of Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Jenny Holzer, Keith Haring, Blondie, Madonna, Jeff Koons, Robert Mapplethorpe, and David Wojnarowicz (to name but a few) working, living, socialising, and making art and music in this enclave of the city.