Coming straight from Basquiat’s early-mid period, this awesome piece stood out to me as soon as I walked into the room. Considering the use of paper as opposed to the work he did on canvas, one could entertain the idea of this being a study Basquiat did, especially since it’s from his early career when his artistic style was still in development. Then again, maybe Basquiat wasn’t thinking of this piece as a preliminary piece at all. In almost every piece of artwork of his that I’ve seen, it’s almost impossible not to pick up some sort of theme, message, or representation of some type within the work. Either in text, gesture, or rendering of an object, Basquiat always finds a way to tell a story with his work, but only ever enough to allow some sort of interpretation from the viewer which I find to be a delightful characteristic. Even when his pieces do get filled with meaning, it’s never forced upon the viewer which offers a welcoming “vibe” to appreciate his artwork for the silliness that has whilst also directing the viewer to consider it just a bit further, invoking curiosity as well as an appreciation of what his work really stands for. In the past, I’ve seen many of what I consider to be better pieces of his, usually because of artistic appreciation for their gleeful and funny visual appeal. But this one I really liked because of the white canvas (a rarity of his) and the simplistic colors and shapes!
I really like how you compared this specific piece to others that you have enjoyed in the past. Your understanding and interest in the artist adds a personal quality to your critique. Maybe you could write more about this piece, you mention that his work tells a story that allows interpretation from viewers, what did you interpret from this specific piece?
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