Jean-Michel Basquiat: Self Portraiture

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: SELF PORTRAITURE

A lecture by Fred Hoffman Presented at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon. March 2, 2022

-1A few months ago I advised an astute collector on a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Two of his earlier Basquiat acquisitions were previously exhibited here at the museum.

My friend followed my advice and acquired Basquiat’s Self Portrait. This new acquisition, currently on view, is a welcome addition to your museum’s amazing exhibition history.

Self Portrait, executed in 1983, is one of Basquiat’s most unique and distinguished self portraits. This will become evident as we progress through my remarks today, as I move from a discussion of this particular work to an overview of self portraiture in the artist’s oeuvre. I will present a selection of what I consider to be important examples.

By important, I mean those works demonstrating Jean-Michel Basquiat’s full capacity of expression—works that are esthetically resolved, whose iconography reveals significant insight into the artist’s vision. While not comprehensive, I believe you will see over 50% of the works which I and other recognized experts would agree upon.

For myself, the titling of Basquiat’s self portraits remains a concern. Simply, many liberties have been taken with the titling of Basquiat paintings. While I would not limit the use of the title “self portrait” to only those works actually titled as such by the artist, I would equally pull back from using this, when the subject matter is solely an interpretation by someone attempting to accrue additional significance to that work of art. And, of course, many of these efforts have been market driven. As my time here is limited, any comprehensive study of Basquiat self portraiture will inevitably need to focus on this issue.

The goal of my talk today is to present the themes Jean-Michel Basquiat addressed in his self portrayals; and to try and account for the evolution in these themes as his career unfolded. Throughout his short career, Basquiat used his pictorial activity as his means of expressing the personal journey of a young black male in a white-dominate contemporary art world. Equally, and what makes Basquiat’s creative contribution so meaningful, was his ability to maintain an impactful expression of his own life, and at the same time present a larger “world view,” consistent with the thinking and contributions of the great minds, both past and present.

Basquiat’s Self Portrait is actually a double self portrait. This in itself sets it off from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s other depictions of himself. This work, like most of the artist’s self portraiture, does not closely capture his actual appearance. While the manner in which the artist rendered his dread lock hair expresses the way in which Basquiat sometimes wore his hair, other features, such eyes, mouth and nose are for the most part rendered without concern for physiognomic accuracy. Not invoking the memory of someone we might know, Basquiat’s double self portrait presents the viewer with something raw and visceral. And as will become evident, while Basquiat’s self portraits

initially reference his body and emotions, over time they allude to a more internal state of being, the life of his soul.

In the double self portrait, Basquiat confronts the viewer through the direct, frontal positioning of the heads. They feel flattened, neither tactile or corporeal. Rather than receding into a background space, they project out into our space. Further flattening the picture, the artist has surrounded each head image with paper collage, an inherently two-dimensional material. The screwing of actual metal hinges onto the front of the painting not only asserts the joining of three separate panels, but equally proclaims the “here and now” of our experience.

The immediacy of Basquiat’s self depiction is further enhanced by the way in which both eyes and mouth are portrayed. Not inviting us to gaze within a physical mass, these primary facial features are presented as white cavities, as if beaming rays of light out toward the viewer. The contrast Basquiat establishes between the two heads is also important. While we confront a full head on the right, the left head is partially covered over with paper collage. Additionally, the left head includes a partially open mouth, with red vertical marks depicting teeth. The left head is particularly important.

Basquiat’s application of paper collage enables him to cut into his image of himself, suggesting that the figure has been assaulted or attacked.

At the same time, Basquiat softens the impact of his images, making them less an act of confrontation. This is partially achieved by the artist surrounding the two heads with subtly modulated passages of white paint, as well as the bonding agent holding the pieces of paper collage in place. Basquiat’s brushwork and gluing techniques should not be thought of as random or casual. They demonstrate the artist’s understanding of how to guide our engagement. Further, Basquiat places to the side of the left-positioned head the repeated name BEN WEBSTER; and a compendium of titles from songs by Thelonious Monk alongside the head to our right. These references tie the artist’s depictions of himself to two black musical masters--- Ben Webster: distinguished American saxophonist; and legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. In so doing, Basquiat literally positions himself in the midst of two meaningful cultural figures.

Basquiat’s Double Self Portrait signals the artist moving away from more naturalistic renderings of himself. The self portraits painted in the year before this work were different. While only marginally concerned with physiognomic accuracy, they nonetheless capture aspects of the artist’s physicality and capacity for expression.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s double self portrait introduces his audience to a new type of self portrayal, indicating a significant shift in how the artist saw himself---less concerned with how he appeared, now more driven to convey the feeling of being

removed and even isolated from the world which was beginning to acknowledge his talents and success. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s double self portrait is more conceptually driven, partially a symbolic expression of his difficulty in dealing with success and fame, equally the declaration of his alienation from the contemporary art world.

-2Approximately one year prior to the realization of the double self portrait, Jean-Michel Basquiat produced as many as 10 self portraits, marking the year 1982 as the artist’s most concentrated focus on this subject. The following year Basquiat executed 4 additional self portraits, each similar to his double self portrait, followed by three in 1984 and one in 1985. For this accounting I am only considering works in which there is little or no question as to the subject being portrayed. There are no important paintings which could be considered a self portrait dating from the last three years of Basquiat’ life.

1982 self portraits include Self Portrait as a Heel (1982), Self Portrait as a Heel, Part II, (1982), and Self Portrait with Suzanne (1982). In the first two works Basquiat depicts an intense, expressionistic, and to a lesser degree, naturalistic portrayal of himself.

There are other self portraits from 1982. I single out these three works as Basquiat titled each “self Portrait.”

Both Self Portrait as a Heel and Self Portrait as a Heel, Part II present a highly energized and emotionally engaged person. These are characteristics that we understand and can relate to. While neither work captures the easily recognizable features of Jean-Michel Basquiat, we feel comfortable accepting that the artist has, in fact, painted himself. And in Basquiat’s hair rendering, he does capture a very specific feature of his persona. In Self Portrait with Suzanne, Basquiat draws himself alongside his muse and lover Suzanne Mallouk. Neither figure resembles Jean-Michel or Suzanne. It is the narrative content of the work---the side by side depiction of two highly animated, physically as well as energetically connected figures, that establishes the subject matter of the work. (Parenthetically, I highly recommend the book Widow Basquiat, the wonderfully telling story of Suzanne Mallouk’s life with Basquiat in these early years.)

The works thus far presented are indisputably self portraits. I would include a few other paintings as definitive depictions of the artist. While Basquiat did not title any of the following works “self portrait,” each has become commonly considered as a painting in which Basquiat represented himself.

Untitled (1982) is the artist’s most heroic depiction of himself, a work on canvas measuring 76 x 94 inches. Here Basquiat is shown as a towering warrior. With a spear

in hand, the pose and gesture of Basquiat’s figure exudes power and authority as he makes his way through an amorphous cityscape. In Untitled ( 1983) Basquiat depicts himself as an oracle, spewing from his mouth, his thoughts and inner musings, including references to his own life and a vast array of seemingly random and disparate cultural as well as historical references. I recently discovered a photograph of Jean-Michel Basquiat working on this painting in his Venice, California studio in early 1983.

From the time of its creation, Two Heads on Gold has been considered a portrayal of the artist. In both heads, the rendering of wide open eyes and mouth, as well as animated, upward thrusting dreadlocks, link these images to the self portraits titled as such by the artist. I call attention to two other works which have been commonly accepted as self portraits. In the figure with upraised arms, the highly animated eyes, mouth and hair surely align the work with many of the previously identified self portraits. That said, this figure could equally be considered as non-referential, an iconic and symbolic representation of an anonymous young black male. In another example, Basquiat’s stick-like figure shares even fewer facial features with these other examples.

Here, Basquiat presents an anti-heroic gesture, possibly serving as his means of expressing his alienation.

Dos Cabezas(1982), depicts the artist and Andy Warhol. In this work Basquiat has simplified his features, almost rendering himself as a caricature-like illustration. In fact, the work was Basquiat’s spontaneous response to Warhol having photographed the younger artist during a lunchtime studio visit. Having been presented with a polaroid photo, Basquiat rushed back to his own studio, returning less than an hour later with this work in hand. And causing Andy Warhol to comment “here is an artist “faster than myself!”

In the following year, 1983, Basquiat made two paintings, each including an image of himself. Both Hollywood Africans and Hollywood Africans in front of the Chinese Theater with Footprints of Movie Stars, depict the artist, alongside fellow artists Ramel Z and Toxic. Both works memorialize Basquiat’s trip to Los Angeles with his two companions, celebrating the opening of his exhibition at the Larry Gagosian Gallery in West Hollywood.

From this formative moment in Basquiat’s career, one other highly recognized painting, included in all of the retrospective exhibitions, warrants mention. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict (1982) most probably includes an image of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

But foremost the work is Basquiat’s homage to graffiti culture and specifically Keith Haring’s subway drawings- the works Haring executed directly onto the advertising panels on the side of New York City subway platforms. These white chalk drawings, executed during daylight hours, and undertaken with considerable risk, required

resolve and heroism. In fact, there is news footage of Keith Haring drawing and subsequently being arrested by a NYC subway officer. As the street tagger known as SAMO, in the two years prior to beginning his full time studio practice in late 1981, Basquiat also challenged New York’s laws and regulations; and Basquiat must have had himself in mind when he produced Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict. This work’s rich iconography and multi-layered complexity makes it one of Basquiat’s greatest achievements.

-3Slightly shifting gears, I draw attention to a very important earlier work from 1981. I would propose that Acque Pericolcose, one of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s first major narrative paintings, includes the image of the artist. In this light, Basquiat first portrays himself as an iconic black male prior to his more concentrated focus on self portraiture . Approximately 15 years ago, while curating the last American Jean-Michel Basquiat retrospective, I wrote extensively on this work, noting that in depicting a towering nude male figure with long flowing dreadlocks, Basquiat depicted himself as vulnerable yet possessed with pride and authority. This was not only one of Basquiat’s earliest self-portraits, but more importantly, his first representation of the mortality of the human body. Jean-Michel Basquiat returned to this theme throughout his life, becoming one of the dominant themes of his late work.

Contemporaneous with Basquiat’s execution of multiple self portraits in 1982-83, Basquiat undertook a number of his most complex, multi-panel paintings. One of these works, Notary, also included in every retrospective exhibition, signals the artist moving away from self portraiture, replacing himself with an equally engaging figure, now presented as part of a larger narrative. Here Basquiat’s figure is a participant in a multilayered story, proclaiming that his personal journey was part and parcel of a universal, transcendental experience.

I would like to quote from my earlier publication on this work: “A comprehensive indicator of how the artist viewed himself at the apex of his career, Notary is a rich compendium of figurative imagery, textual and symbolic references to Greek mythology, Roman history, African tribal culture, systems of monetary exchange, natural commodities, as well as states of health and well-being. The images and texts are presented as part of one loosely unified web or network. Notary can be seen as the summation of how Basquiat saw himself as he consolidated his creative achievements.

Having mastered many of his formal strategies and extended his ability to address profound psychic experience, Basquiat revealed the depth of his own pathos. Notary invites the viewer to penetrate visually into the core of the centrally positioned figure’s nervous system, suggesting the introspection of an individual confronted by pain and

suffering. Through text references to LEECHES, FLEAS, and PARASITES who are destined to DEHYDRATE, and diminish the FLESH of this MALE TORSO, Basquiat portrays his vitality and energy being continually challenged. As much as Notary reveals the artist’s spiritual journey, it also exposes the plights and pitfalls along his path. Notary is Basquiat’s portrayal of his own inner turmoil—his grappling with the contradictions between a realization of profound inner truths and the responsibilities accompanying public notoriety —at the very moment that his art had obtained public recognition and market value.”

-4At the same time of the 1983 double self portrait, Jean-Michel Basquiat painted four other single head images of himself. All of these works are similar in size and presentation. One of the four, including the additional numerical notation “1960”—the artist’s birth year—remained in Basquiat’s collection throughout his short life, and is captured in the wonderful and historically important photo taken( by Tseng Kwon Chi) in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s studio in 1987.

In early 1983 Basquiat also produced a much more elaborate and in many respects, more compelling depiction of himself, a full length figure juxtaposed with an adjacent panel portraying both his personal incantation “To Repel Ghosts,” and his characterization of the passage from the material to the spiritual. (Parenthetically, the only other full length self portrait is the previously discussed large self portrait on canvas) Self Portrait was painted on two found wooden doors, one of which also includes an attached plywood panel. This highly unique painting was executed in Venice, California at my print studio, New City Editions, where Jean-Michel Basquiat produced his now acclaimed silk screen works, Tuxedo, Untitled and Back of the Neck.

Self Portrait is actually recorded being painted by Basquiat in Tamra Davis’s documentary The Radiant Child, possibly the only extant film documentation of Basquiat working on a painting. I might note that as the proprietor of New City Editions, and the producer of Basquiat’s silk screen editions, I was present during the execution of this work.

Self Portrait is unlike any of the artist's other self portraits. It juxtaposes an image of Jean-Michel Basquiat and a second panel full of symbolic imagery referring to a more universal experience. Moving from bottom to top, Basquiat collaged two original drawings onto the second door. The drawing to the left presents an array of text references to our lives and our world, including SODIUM WATER COPPER, PINE TREE, SILVER, MEXICO, INFORMATION, BILLION QUALITY AND MOOSE. The second accompanying drawing is unique in the oeuvre, a dense, seemingly non-directional map, a frenetic cacophony of lines suggesting movement through a maze. Together

these two works on paper, collaged onto the wooden door, literally “ground” the work, capturing aspects of how we navigate through our world and what we uncover and experience. Positioned halfway between these two drawings and the top portion of the work, Basquiat painted the words TO REPEL GHOSTS ©. This is Basquiat’s earliest usage of this phrase, an incantation he included in other important paintings and drawings. It refers to both how Basquiat viewed himself as well as a larger “world view.” In the additional wooden panel at the top, the artist painted images of space ships, a ladder and forms suggestive of natural vegetation (possibly tree branches).

The imagery depicted on the attached wood panel, as well as the thin vertical red line beginning below the collaged drawings and passing up to and touching his assorted symbolic references at the top, are Basquiat’s means of declaring ascent, not merely something physical (i.e, the spaceships), but something psycho-spiritual---a transcendence and liberation from the confines of one’s worldly experience.

Transcendence was an important theme for Jean-Michel Basquiat; and he explored it in both the paintings and drawings he produced throughout his short career. Here, I briefly interject one other self portrait, Heaven (1985), a work also making reference to the passage from the worldly to the spiritual.

Returning to Self Portrait, the usage of two doors as a picture support is much more than an act of bringing the outside world into the studio. Yes, the work may be considered in the lineage of Rauschenberg’s Bed and Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel. But on a deeper level, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s presentation of a monumental self portrait on two found doors reveals a highly considered and insightful understanding that the doors themselves symbolize a portal between two realms of experience.

-5Throughout Basquiat’s short career he continually sought out new means of capturing the duality of FLESH AND SPIRIT, the play between GOD AND LAW. Basquiat’s concern for this subject brings to mind Dante’s Divine Comedy, a text we know Jean-Michel Basquiat considered, as he refers to it in the 1984 painting depicted in the background of the previously presented photo of Basquiat in his studio.

Portraying Dante’s “semi-circle of damnation,” in the upper left quadrant of the painting, was Basquiat means of reflecting on his own life struggle.

In Self Portrait, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s incantation “To Repel Ghosts” expresses this same struggle. But in this work, he also proclaims that his journey takes him from the life of the senses to the realm of the spirit.