Angelina Jolie, an actress and humanitarian, signed a deal for renting a place where Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat worked and lived. This apartment lies on 57 Great Jones Street in New York. John Roesch and Garrett Kelly, directors at the real estate agency Meridian Capital Group, confirmed the deal yesterday. Jolie will use it for her creative studio, Atelier Jolie.
Jolie will rent the apartment and studio in the long-term, for eight years. There are three levels and 6,600 square feet of interior area.The exterior of the building has an artistic appearance – graffiti adorn the exterior appearance. The actress decided not to change the facade, in order to honor Basquiat and his work. When SAMO, an urban artistic duo, first formed, Basquiat was a member of the group.
“Angelina Jolie wanted to preserve the older art on [the building] and keep that Basquiat feel to the space”, said Roesch, a director at the real estate agency Meridian Capital Group. Other agency director, Garrett Kelly, also added: “She loved the facade of the building and it being tagged up with the street art as a memorial for Basquiat”.