Analysis Of Basquiat's Narrative Dichotomy

Currently at the MCA Denver there are three exhibitions: Ryan McGinley, “The Kids Were Alright.”, Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Basquiat Before Basquiat”, and Wall Writers Graffiti In Its Innocence. All of which displayed intimate and thought provoking pieces of art from talented artists on the East coast. All three floors of the exhibit allowed for the viewers to grasp a better understanding of the early career of each artist.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist born in Brooklyn in 1960. His art focused on “suggestive dichotomies”, like integration versus segregation, wealth versus poverty, and inner versus outer experience. He used social commentary in his artwork in order to attack the power structures and racism in America. During his

earlier career, Basquiat’s breakthrough as a solo artist was when he participated in The Times Square Show, a multi-artist exhibition sponsored by Colab and Fashion Moda. Unfortunately, his life ended early when he overdosed on heroin and died in his art studio at the age of 27. Even after the death of Basquiat, his art lived on. His exhibit at the MCA Denver, “Basquiat Before Basquiat”, focuses on a period of transition as he moved away from street art towards more studio practice. Through painting, sculptures, work on paper, notebook doodles, and other ephemera.
The exhibit encompasses a time when he lived with his friend Alexis Adler in a small apartment in the East Village.

He used archival material in order to exemplify a rare insight into his life before he was recognized as an artist in the 1980s. Alexis stated, “From mid 1979 to mid 1980, I lived with Jean-Michel Basquiat in an apartment that we moved into and shared on East 12th Street. This was a time before Jean had canvases to work with, so he used whatever he could get his hands on, as he was constantly creating. The derelict street of the East Village provided his raw materials ad he would bring his finds up the six flights of stairs to incorporate into his work.” Basquiat uniquely would paint on There are actual objects Basquiat painted on objects like a Pepto-Bismol bottle, a briefcase, a refrigerator, and a television. An interesting piece displayed is Basquiat’s painted sweatshirts. He would paint on clothing and sell them for $80.00, in order to pay for his rent that month. They are displayed at MCA Denver allows for us, the viewers, to see both sides of the sweatshirts. They are placed in a line formation with mirrors lining the bottom so you can see both sides of the sweatshirt art. Immediately when I walked in the scribbled-on photo of the refrigerator caught my eye. It says, “grape jelly.” In bold writing with black lines scribbled below. The simplicity, and almost childlike drawing I found to be very captivating and thought provoking. It makes you think to

yourself, why? What thought promoted Basquiat to write grape jelly with scribbles on it? At the exhibit, there was an exert that explained Basquiat’s combination of bod color, fragments of recognizable forms, and repeated use of symbols, United (Cadmium) is one of Basquiat’s great paintings. The sacred heart, a traditional symbol of suffering was a reoccurring theme in his figures and paintings.
Ryan McGinley began his photograph career as he enrolled as a graphic design student at Parsons School of Design in New York in 1997. Following the next year, he moved in the East Village, where he began taking polaroid photos of every person who visited him. While at school, Ryan began experimenting and developing his photography skills. In 1999, he collected the photos he had taken over the past few years and created and self-published the book called The Kids Are Alright. Ryan McGinley at just the age of 25, in 2003, was one of the youngest artists to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Currently, McGinley’s The Kids Are Alright, is opened in Denver where his images from his youth are on exhibit.
At the MCA Denver, the exhibition expands over the entire second floor.

Ryan McGinley’s earliest photography days from from 1998 to 2003 are the showcase of the exhibit. According to MCA Denver, “The photographs present intimate moments of both exhilaration and introspection, often within a mundane setting, and demonstrate a sweeping range of emotions. McGinley’s works capture the essence of his lifestyle at the time: gritty, daring, and focused on moments of both pleasure and tedium, as well as illicit activities. Un-staged and unedited, McGinley’s use of light imbues all of the works with an intensity and profound emotional depth.” McGinley’s way of portraying exact moments with unedited raw footage, is what makes his photography so relatable in a sense. McGinley’s work displays the recklessness his tightknit friend group lived by. He captured the lives of his transgressive friends, the drama in their lives, and brought together his audience with highly intimate

photos.
My first perspective on McGinley’s work was that I was slightly confused, and maybe a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure how to react to many of his photos. As we walked the halls, I began to feel more comfortable and appreciative of his work. In particular, a photo that stood out to me was, “Puke”. In the exhibit, one of the exerts explained that McGinley would drink ipecac, a cough syrup known to induce vomiting, and then set up a scene where he would repeatedly capture with him camera: the moment of retching. These puking photos suggest a complete collapse between McGinley as an artist and McGinley as his own subject. The “Puke” photo is one of the larger images in his exhibit, and is extremely graphic. It’s odd, it is one of those things where you want to look away because it’s disgusting seeing him projectile vomit up close and personal, but there is something captivating about it. The “Puke” photograph shows the viewers that McGinley was very committed to his work and enjoyed making himself his subject. Ryan McGinley used raw imagery of bloody eyes, cum on pants, and sexual actions, in order to draw people in and allows us to view his life from an uncensored lens.
On the bottom level of the MCA museum is “Wall Writers: Graffiti In Its Innocence”. Wall Writers began in Philadelphia and New York City during the 1960’s to 70’s. Wall Writers is an exclusive account of the beginning of the largest art movement of the Twentieth Century. This exhibition includes an impressive array of material and documentation that explores the early pioneering of street artists. In particular, the exhibit displays the work of a photographer named Jon Naar, who was commissioned to shoot a book of the New York City graffiti scene. His first exhibition was to photograph teenagers on the subway platforms. After explaining to the teenagers that he was writing a book on graffiti they took Jon on a tour of their city. Naar was one of the first people to professionally photograph and document wall writings. There was such an array of work in this exhibit. I found my eyes drawing back and forth between each wall of art, trying to grasp an understanding and to take it all in. There were artists’ notebook, canvases painted, spray paint advertisements, greeting cards, and the documented photos of the street art. This portion of the museum I found to be the more colorfully diverse. It was interesting to see graffiti artist such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey before they became household names.