Jean-Michel Basquiat - Identity Research Report

 In this essay I will be comparing the following two articles together, a newspaper article titled Jean-‘Michel Basquiat emerged rough but ready, not fully formed but fully loaded’ from 2005, Village Voice, New York and a thesis titled ‘The reconsideration of Jean-Michel Basquiat's work from the hybrid cultural perspective’.

"I start a picture and I finish it I don't think about art while I work. I try to think about life." 

-Jean-Michel Basquiat

Primarily, the newspaper article starts off with saying “Certain artists intuit that they're going to die young, so they produce large bodies of work in condensed periods of time. They catch fire quickly, blaze brightly, then are gone” (SALTZ, J., 2005). This statement is reliable as the thesis also states a quote from Jean-Michel Basquiat himself. Informs us how an artist work and especially Basquiat revolve around the idea of life, importantly his identity and that his view was now in the moment and that’s what was important.

To begin with, both articles have a similar approach however the thesis by Mosny is more in depth, such as the thesis in page sixteen talks about the symbols and themes in Basquiat's work, while the newspaper by Saltz J. states similar things but in a more condensed manner. For example “Basquiat's voice was limited but extraordinarily expressive and individualistic.” (SALTZ, J., 2005) and “Basquiat was an intelligent artist; each and every aspect of his work is calculated initsplacement, color, and size. His messages would create his image in the art world” (Mosny, 2008). Overall, they clarify the same point, which is how Basquiat was an extraordinary artist who thought out his pieces with plenty of decision making with his unique choices which is what makes up his identity. 

To continue, I believe this links to my project on identity, but I specifically focused on decision making and escapism as a part of our identity. Basquiat’s works revolves around plenty of decision making to create a form of escapism, for example the crowns in his work alone are a symbol of identity, and it was his decision to show this in many of his pieces like Jean-Michel Basquiat – Red Kings, 1981 and plenty others who were left untitled. The crown has many meaning which is stated in Mosny’s thesis “Basquiat used the crown, a symbol of royalty and authority, in many instances.” and the text goes on to explain how his symbols are “Basquiat's linguistic system” for expression and his way to escape, be himself and let out his feelings. However, in the newspaper by Saltz J. It doesn’t talk about the crowns, but  it does refer to his language, that “He was also wildly uneven. Some of his work looks like junk. Yet to me he's less about individual works than an overarching ‘voice’”. In the newspaper article it takes a more informal tone stating how his work looked like junk, to express Basquiat style. To incorporate my own opinion I agree that his work also has a messy theme but I also enjoy the meaning behind the pieces. The “junk” he creates are actually pools of ideas and decisions all mixed together to create his sense of freedom and liberation from his surroundings, which became his “voice”.

Finally, since my focus is on the magic of escapism and decision making, I wanted to focus on this statement by Saltz J. presenting how “He (Basquiat) wanted it to function in the ways that it did a thousand years ago: as a sacramental or talismanic object... shamanic power to change lives, protect cities, or perform magic.”. Presenting how Basquiat chose to make his work impactful to society so much that his version of fanstay became real. 

“At the age of twenty three, Basquiat's fantasy had been met and even superseded” (Mosny, 2008)

References;

Mosny, Alaina Young, "The reconsideration of Jean-Michel Basquiat's work from the hybrid cultural perspective" (2008). Master's Theses. Paper 800. pp.12–20

SALTZ, J., 2005, Apr. JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT. The Village Voice(16), 1. ISSN 00426180.