Drive for Fame
After a night at the Mudd Club, we found ourselves once again at Dave's Luncheonette. While enjoying conversation over breakfast, Jean pulled out his recent creations—the Anti-Baseball Card series. Dale Threlkeld and I had the pleasure of sifting through thirty or so little color-copy, collage postcards. In many of the cards, Jean-Michel had used the PEZ logo, one of his favorite candies, and numerous photographs of himself in his wrap-around sunglasses along with other chaotic images and drawings. As Dale and I quickly viewed the pieces to pick out our favorites, I remember that we could actually feel the determination of our friend’s drive for artistic fame. Recalling that evening now, little did I know that the Anti-Baseball Card series would become so valuable.
Jean-Michel had issues with the big dealers, including Leo Castelli and Mary Boone. He disliked trendy and arrogant art dealers. When he started gaining notoriety, things quickly changed, he became less affected by their tactics and sales methods. At the now famous P.S. 1 exhibition in 1981, he exhibited with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Nan Goldin, and Keith Haring, among others. Everything of Jean-Michel’s sold within minutes of the opening. When I arrived at the show, Jean-Michel greeted me with wide eyes and said, “Nick…I am set for life!” It had dawned on him that everything was in place to begin his astounding career. He now knew he was going to be famous!
