Jean-Michel Basquiat at Duolun MoMA

If you are sitting around trying to figure out what to do in Shanghai until Mike Tyson arrives, we highly suggest you head on over to Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art to check out the Basquiat Retrospective, which runs until April 10. It's a fantastic way to get lost for an hour or two, to recharge your creative juices, or simply enjoy being surrounded by someone else's.

More information on Jean-Michel Basquiat, the graffiti-artist-turned-avante-garde-wunderkind who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27 in 1988, can be found here and here. Street to Studio is a great site that offers an interactive look at Basquiat's work. Basquiat was the subject of a critically-acclaimed 1996 film called Basquiat -- you can read the script for that movie here. basquiat.net has a decent online gallery featuring Basquiat's art.

So go to Duolun. Now. And if Basquiat turns out not to be your cup of tea -- he's an acquired taste -- take a stroll along Duolun Lu, a great little walking street with nice old buildings and lots of interesting shops.

Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art. 27 Duolun Lu, near Sichuan Lu (多伦路27号). Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm. Tel: 65872530. Admission: 10 RMB.

Related:
Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Jean-Michel Basquiat (The Nation)
Jean-Michel Basquiat's Fifteen Minutes (City Weekend)