One of the world’s most influential artists, Jean Michel-Basquiat, was emblematic of the art world’s recognition of Neo-expressionism, Contemporary art and Primitivism. Beginning as a part of a constellation of young New York graffiti artists, going under the name of SAMO (“same old same old” or “same old shit”.) critiquing the commodification of art. He left home at 17, and was a High School drop out. He survived by couch surfing or living on the streets, selling postcards and t-shirts.
Through his short and prolific career, Basquiat’s work is characterized by his emotional depth, and political commentary reflecting his experiences as a young black man growing up misunderstood and unheard. He was often seen hanging around downtown spots such as, “The mudd club, ” “Club 57,” surrounded by many other known artists.
Through the rise of the Punk era, emerging in the late 70’s, Basquiat found himself reflecting a proto-punk aesthetic as well as his immersion in counterculture. A movement that expresses the ethos and aspirations of particular groups of people and the dissent between dominant or mainstream ideologies. Basquiat did not want to be seen as a Black artist, but simply an artist. Basquiat was seen as an art outcast at the time of the Neo-Expressionism movement, mainly due to the originality of his work and something that hadn’t been seen before.
Not only that, but being a Black artist outcasted him from the rest of his artist peers.
In popular culture the term, “punk,” is often used to define a white person who breaks stereotypes, a self imposed minority. An old term in Black culture, deriving from the 17th century English term for ‘prostitute’ and the jazz connotation of ‘spunk,’ “punk” is defined through the verbiage of the 1930’s as a black male prostitute. Which Basquiat was not. The definition across these cultures play a crucial role in the way Basquiat’s identity is perceived. An outcast in a world of the pretending outcasts, the ones who self marginalize in order to achieve a sense of “realness” and struggle. Basquiat was an artistic activist, creating his abstraction as a means to disrupt the standards of the art world. Similarly, Lee Quinones, Puerto Rican artist from the New York Subway Movement said,
“As people of color, the feeling at the time was that our work was not articulate enough and not relevant enough. Because it wasn’t their structure or their struggles.”
German Philosopher Thorsten Botz-Bornstein explores the idea of what it means to be “cool,” and the history in which African Americans protected themselves through stoicism. A cool attitude (emotional detachment and irony) allowed for enslaved individuals, or previously enslaved people to cope with exploitation and acted as a resistance to the larger institutions.
“The cool person lives in a constant state of alienation,” whereas, “the punk lives in a constant state of flagellation,” mentions Botz-Bornstein in his link to stoicism and Hip-Hop.
To be cool there is a paradoxical concept of identity. On one hand there is a need to have a nonconformist balance while on the other the rejection of being linear, meaning to be abstract, but in a way that isn’t overtly abstraction. Basquiat wasn’t interviewed often, but when he was he offered rhetorical questions rather than the answers interviewers looked for, a true stoic response. Basquiat even now embodies this “cool” concept, perhaps more than any comparable artist.
Through this, Basquiat’s work has not only been merchandised but excerpted and abstracted, in a way that tokenizes his artistry and commodizes him. Being a large name in Hip-Hop culture, Basquiat clearly defines a respective aspect of it.
Early Hip-Hop culture was faceted by rapping, djing, breakdancing and graffiti, which was a transformative time for contemporary street artists and paved the way for street style. Blondie’s, “Rapture,” featured in 1980 on MTV was one of the first songs to feature rapping that ever made it’s place on the Billboard charts. Young Basquiat is seen on the turntables, giving him the eyes of exposure in popular media. His artwork, “Hollywood Africans,” paid homage to Haddy Mcdaniels, the first African American to win an award for her role in “Gone With the Wind.” The painting features stereotypes of African Americans in the entertainment industry. The vocabulary throughout this work such as, “gangsterism,” “heroism” created a duality for the role of the “gangster” that he played in the art world. The notion of these exclusion/excision accounts for his emphasis on concepts.
“I cross out words so you will see them more; the fact that they are obscured makes you want to read them.”
He was an artist of the people, not just a manufactured artist. Through his tokenism, and the fetishization of ethnic minorities, Basquiat stands to be a gem for the elite and predominantly white art world.
Many popular figures in mainstream culture throughout the 2010’s and on, have used Basquiat’s legacy as a means to portray what it means to be Black in society. A prime example would be the Brooklyn Nets, and their jersey. The songs, “Ain’t I” by JAY-Z, “Land of Promise” by Nas and Damien Marley, “Hell & Nash” by Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, all feature lyrics relating to Basquiat.