Basquiat x Banksy art exhibit opens in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - The works of two major groundbreaking artists are on display for the first time at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

The year-long exhibit explores the connection between the works of the late American artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat and British artist Banksy.

"The Basquiat and Banksy exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an important one...Because we are here in our nation's capital and these are two artists who are really two of the primary voices that have changed the discourse of art today," said Betsy Johnson, Assistant Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

"I was very excited to come here because I've never really had an opportunity to see much of Basquiat's art," said Heather Nimley, a visitor.

"It's so interesting how vibrant and visceral things are when you see them in scale," said John Lawson, another visitor.

"Jean Michel Basquiat and Banksy have a shared origin in graffiti art. Basquiat started doing works on the street in New York um in Soho in Lower Manhattan in the late 19 seventies. And he has a practice that is very rooted in many uh graffiti art traditions of inscription and drawing and combining text and image. So Banksy is an incredibly important artist because he's an artist um with a really strong voice. He's I think probably like the British version of Basquiat where he just, you don't know who he is an artist who is always working to create artworks in response to the environments that he works within."

Betsy Johnson, Assistant Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

"Banksy in particular has within its frame politics and the kind of social agendas that we're domesticated into," Lawson expressed.

"Art is for everybody. Everybody should be able to see it, enjoy it, love it," Nimley added.

Baquiat died in 1988 at the age of 27. The exhibit runs through October 2025.