Jean-Michel Basquiat

The artist that I chose was Jean-Michel Basquiat, a famous artist in urban, Hip-Hop  and New York City culture. Some of the images I chose represents Basquiat's work and attitude as a whole. Though Basquiat was known for his graffiti art around SOHO manhattan, and his SAMO graffiti art movements around New York City, he published over thousands of paintings and drawings before he died. What makes Basquiat so unique is not only his style of untraditional techniques and innateness, but his layers of layers of drawings which captures his art as a whole. Basquiat also puts down words to describe what his paintings are about. Basquiat's work also resembles political problems and stereotypical views going on within black culture.

This illustration is called Rice and Chicken, made in 1981. This picture resembles the stereotypical view of Black people's love for chicken. It shows a black person serving food to a white person. The illustration's meaning comes from the stereotype of Blacks people's love for chicken, which only came from the origin of slavery when black servants served slave masters.

The next illustration from Basquiat is The Irony of The Negro Policeman, produced in 1981. This painting was to show the irony behind a black person being a law enforcer who is deceptive to a white majority. It also shows a cage behind the black face to show that in reality, black people lead the nation in population for incarceration. This picture brings about the question, who would want to work for a society that imprisons its own kind. 

The last illustrations that I chose by Basquiat is Skull, produced in 1981. This painting shows a black male with a halo or crown above his head. The meaning behind the painting resembles an opposing view of black men in america. Black men aren't recognized as being intellectual and inferior through  educating themselves but are only accepted as athletes. The mindset of physicality over intelligence penetrates the many minds of stereotypical views. Basquiat wants to show in his painting that what makes the black male, or any human is his mind. 

Sources: http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/docview/215526315?accountid=10598