Dua Lipa Service95 Book Club Highlights the Art and Tragedy in Widow Basquiat

Global pop icon Dua Lipa is once again putting a spotlight on powerful literature. Her Service95 Book Club’s June 2025 pick is Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement. It is a haunting and poetic biography of Suzanne Mallouk. She was the muse, lover, and spiritual partner of legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The book blends memoir, poetry, and downtown New York history. It explores creativity and addiction. It also delves into the untamed beauty of a tragic love story that shaped an art movement.

What Is Widow Basquiat About?

First published in 2000, Widow Basquiat is not your typical biography. It’s lyrical and impressionistic, stitched together in fragments, much like Basquiat’s own paintings.

The story centers around Suzanne Mallouk. She is a Canadian-born artist and bartender. and became entangled in the raw, chaotic world of 1980s New York. She had a romantic and destructive relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

“It’s a tale of beauty and bruises,” said Dua Lipa in her Book Club newsletter. “Clement’s language is sharp and emotional—every page feels like a painting.”

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Why This Pick Resonates

• Cultural Insight: The book dives into the downtown art scene, Black art, and the price of fame.
• Unfiltered Emotion: It shows the agony of loving someone lost to genius and addiction.
• Literary Style: Jennifer Clement, also author of Prayers for the Stolen, crafts a mosaic of poetry and memory that feels deeply intimate.

Dua Lipa’s pick reflects her consistent support for books that blend personal story with cultural history—especially those that elevate underrepresented voices.

What Dua Lipa Says:

“It’s messy, tragic, and devastatingly human. Basquiat’s art was raw and alive—this book feels the same.”

Fans of Basquiat’s art will find this book utterly captivating. Readers of memoirs like Just Kids by Patti Smith or I’m With the Band by Pamela Des Barres will also be captivated.

🔗 Where to Read More

See the full Service95 Book Club feature and Dua’s commentary at service95.com or join the community reading discussion online.

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