Basquiat-isms

I have never known an artist that didn’t have something to say. At the very core of it all it’s communication that is the thing. The form can be dance, sculpture, music, or quilting…on and on. There is something of a story, a narrative, and some explanation, a dissection of every element of any and every work. The graffiti artist is among the greatest exponents of this idea and it is essential to the form. “Look at me through my work, I have a message, I have a story, I am here and I matter.” 

Jean-Michel Basquiat spoke cryptically and expressively first on walls and shortly following on canvases. He was somewhat shy but he expressed himself eloquently and poignantly in his spoken words. His thoughts and commentaries are now collected in book form “Basquiat-isms” edited by Larry Warsh. It is certainly of interest to his admirers across the globe. It is an excellent collection of the voicings he imparted within his short but all so vastly incredible life.  

In his brief twenty-seven year life Basquiat went from poverty and complete obscurity with such a meteoric progression that it could easily be referenced to as “over-night success.” It was really by no means so, as it unfolded in reality, referenced as so easily a thing as it might appear. It was however methodically planned, executed and created by his sheer will, determination and profuse understanding of the then (nineteen-eighties) New York art scene. It was no done without a measure of difficulty. Basquiat went from graffiti bomber (SAMO) to gallery representation to collected and sought out phenomenon, to now canonization. The book “Basquiat-isms” is a representation of this. It can inform, entertain, amuse and on occasion baffle you. I have sampled it here. Do enjoy and hopefully choose to seek it out for it’s entirety.

Quotes & Illustrations

"I like to have information rather than just a brushstroke. Just to have words to put in feelings." 

                                                                                             Jean-Michel Basquiat

 

“I don’t think about art when I work. I think about life.”

                                                                                                             Jean-Michel Basquiat

                                                                                                 

"Magic doesn’t especially Interest me. I like the intuition that tells me a work is finished." 

                                                                                                              Jean-Michel Basquiat

I was trying to communicate an idea. I was trying to paint an urban landscape. I was trying to make paintings different from painting that I saw which were mostly minimal that were highbrow and alienating.

                                                                                                         Jean-Michel Basquiat

"I usually put a lot down and then I take a lot away, then I put more down and take even more away, so it’s like a constant editing process."

                                                                                                         Jean-Michel Basquiat

"I like words that jump off the page when I see them."

                                                                                                         Jean-Michel Basquiat  

  

                              "I am what I am, what I am, what I am."

                                                                          Jean-Michel Basquiat

"It’s pretty primal; whatever I feel at the moment…sometimes it’s political sometimes not, I don’t know."

                                                                                                         Jean-Michel Basquiat

                                                                                                

"I think there are a lot of people that are neglected in art...I don’t know if it’s because of who made the paintings or what; but…Black people are never really portrayed realistically or I mean not even portrayed in modern art"

                                                                                             Jean-Michel Basquiat

"The more I paint the more I like everything."

                                                                                       Jean-Michel Basquiat

"Since I was 17, I thought I might be a star."

                                                                     Jean-Michel Basquiat

"I cross out words so you will see them more; the fact that they are obscured makes you want to read them."

                                                                          Jean-Michel Basquiat

 

"I think I make art for myself, but ultimately I think I make it for the world."

                                                                                   Jean-Michel Basquiat

"I don't like to discuss art at all"

                                                                                Jean-Michel Basquiat

  - Other artist in this series include:  Ai Weiwei, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Keith Haring  and Futura -  

The Art, Fashion & Style of Kanye West

For all his blusterous bad-behavior and ballistic bile, Kanye West possess a certain sense of style, refinement and knowledgeable taste in regards to fashion and the arts.  Kanye is a man/child blessed with talent; the ability to compose intricate Raps as he dresses well and completes drawings that are much better than good. West is also able to solicit the great artists of his time and collaborates frequently with those peers. Talents to note and include are Takashi Murakami, George Condo and Rapper/Mogul Jay-Z.   

West is a champion of the art of media manipulation as is evident in the attention given his recent wedding; while orchestrating and including the Vogue Magazine cover featuring himself and his then bride to be Kim Kardashian. Another important recent artistic feat for West was the February Interview Magazine cover story and immensely innovative and provocative photo spread (many of the photos included here) highlighting the radical artist. He continues to release new music and videos while developing a fashion line conforming to his unique sensibilities and ideals. This month’s issue for the fashion conscience male; GQ displays West at his best and highlights his monochromatic flair for originality and compositional matches and pairings. An arresting interview explaining his inner dinosaur and blowfish are found inside it pages too.  

One of Kanye’s best and most interesting art pieces is his “Heartless” video. West produced and essentially directed this tribute to the inspired animation of Ralph Bakshi. The classic Bakshi film release “American Pop” is the background and driving force of the West video. Scenes are recreated directly from  Bakshi’s superb animated Historical Fiction. It tells the story through several generations of an immigrant family’s journey and escape from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution to the United States.   They eventually achieve both political and musical freedom as they find their place in life and the world. I’m certain West sees a comparison to his personal life and struggles in the narrative. Within the video West includes a nod to Warhol and the American classic Hanna-Barbara studios. 

"Heartless"

In the course of his career West is often infuriating and polarizing but he is never short of surprise, invention and “the shock of the new.” Kanye West remains among the seminal artists and fashion mavericks of this; his times.