found in Africa and North America inspired Jean-Michel Basquiat (p. 127). In the petroglyphs carved into rock (as opposed to pictographs painted onto rock), he discovered a pictorial language that he could readily apply to his salutation of the black male. In African rock art, the young artist found many examples of sensitively rendered figurative imagery. He was attracted to the stacking and repetition of multiple images that gave the impression of figures floating and weightless. The prehistoric rock artist carved his narrative on solid rock surfaces, often the wall of a cave or rock overhang, now still visible centuries after their creation. With the patina of age, these images are voices from the distant past.
The makers of these ancient figural images were not “regular� tribesman, they were shamans, distinguished for their insight resulting from having entered into ecstatic states. The images they chose to depict were archetypal. They reflect their makers understanding of basic, fundamental truths which they came to know from having partaken of rituals, ceremonies and hallucinations that they would enter into in order to gain insight into the truths and exigencies of their tribe. These images became a fundamental means for the spiritual guide to impart to his tribesmen a sense of self as they faced the myriad of uncertainties in their world.5 Jean-Michel Basquiat was drawn to these images from
Above
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
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St. Joe Louis Surrounded by Snakes, 1982 Acrylic, oil paintstick, and paper collage on canvas 40 x 40 inches 101.5 x 101.5 cm
Right
GIANFRANCO GORGONI
Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982
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