SAMO© 1980s graffiti art Courtesy New York Beat Film LLC/The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/Edo Bertoglio
such subjects as slave sales, the unjust Jim Crow system, and the brutal beating and killing of a young black man by the police. His 1981 painting Irony of Negro Policeman appears to contain the word PAWN and is likely a criticism of blacks being used as puppets by the dominant white system to control their own people. Suzanne Mallouk, one of the artist’s former girlfriends, noted that “everything he did was an attack on racism.” According to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, “Basquiat challenged Western history by creating images that honor black men as kings and saints. The artist used a crown, his signature recurring motif, to portray his heroes—renowned athletes, musicians, and writers—in a majestic light.” Still, although Basquiat included blacks as a subject in an art culture that often neglected them, he simultaneously wanted to be recognized as an artist, not simply as a black artist. Unfortunately, in his eyes, he never achieved that much-desired distinction.
Impact on the Artworld On the other hand, even though Basquiat only had a few productive years as an artist, his impact was undeniably epic. Like Rembrandt, Picasso and Warhol, he has certainly reached the level of other top artists of any race who are well-known FACING PAGE TOP: Jean-Michel Basquiat Photo credit: Julio Donoso/Sygma via Getty Images
TOP: Warrior, 1982 Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.
FACING PAGE BOTTOM: Untitled, 1982 Courtesy Sotheby’s
BOTTOM: In This Case, 1983 Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.
Bavual.com
67
