Friends and Legends: The Collection of Michael Chow

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was a Brooklyn-born artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent who first drew attention in the late 1970s through the SAMO graffiti tag he made with Al Diaz. In June 1980 he appeared as SAMO in "The Times Square Show," where Jeffrey Deitch singled out his work as "a knockout combination of de Kooning and subway spray-paint scribbles," and in 1981 he was included in "New York/New Wave," curated by Diego Cortez. His first New York solo exhibition, at Annina Nosei Gallery in March 1982, was a critical success and was followed by his first West Coast solo show at Larry Gagosian in Los Angeles; that year he was among the youngest of the 182 artists in Documenta 7 in Kassel. His paintings and drawings layer figures, crowns, anatomical diagrams, words and crossed-out text to address race, power, history and fame. He rose to prominence in early-1980s New York and died at 27.

Urs Fischer (b. 1973, Zurich) is a Swiss contemporary artist known for playful, provocative works that transform everyday objects and familiar images. Working across sculpture, painting, photography, and installation, he explores perception, materiality, decay, and transformation. His practice often combines humor and illusion with unconventional materials, from wax and food to clay and digital imagery.