Essay About Basquiat

Throughout the 1980’s, the graffiti scene was very familiar with the name “Basquiat.” Jean-Michel Basquiat is an American graffiti artist who was born in Brooklyn, New York. His artwork is mostly defined as neo-expressionism with a bit of primitivism. His medium was usually a combination of oils, acrylics and spray cans. One could look at Basquiat’s pieces and say they are as if a child scribbled on a canvas, but to me, there is more than that. I admire Basquiat not for what he is, but for what he is not. I believe it requires a lot of bravery to showcase your art that is less than perfect as in the social standards for fine art. Basquiat did just that and was still well respected for it. I feel as if he conquered in keeping his childhood creativity

This piece is acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on wood panel that is 186.1 centimeters in height and 125.1 centimeters in width. This piece features a human-like figure in the center that is mostly half red and half black. This figure has a gray head with one yellow eye and one light gray eye and above its head is a black halo. The background consists of patches of various colors such as light blue, black, dark red, light green, beige, turquoise, pink, and yellow. On the bottle left corner there is a figure drawn that looks like a fish and has a strip of mustard yellow painted through it. Also towards the bottom right of the artwork, there is some drawn on letters that almost look like words but are messily painted over with a desert sand color. This piece is my favorite because I find it aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot going on in this piece that makes looking at it genuinely interesting. The colors that Basquiat choses for the background go very well together and overall compliment the figure in the center. I like how incredibly expressive this piece is and it makes me want to buy a canvas and start painting that I desire. I also like how the human-like figure is drawn. One could see what looks like an outlined ribcage on the figure, which makes me believe that the head is actually a skull. Upon further research I learned that Basquiat was

This piece is and is 218.4 centimeters in height and 172.7 centimeters in width. I was not able to find the medium of this artwork but I am assuming it is either acrylic or oil on canvas. The style is also abstract and features what looks like random painted figures and shapes positioned all over the canvas with patches of red, yellow-green, mustard yellow, white and beige as the background. There are a couple random objects painted on this piece that are recognizable, such as a red cup with sugar cubes next to it, but there also many unrecognizable shapes that are more open to interpretation. It is my least favorite because I do not find the overall color scheme of the painting very appealing. Personally I feel as if the colors in this piece do not go well together, especially the shade of green and yellow in the background. Compared to Basquiat’s other pieces that are richer in color, this piece falls