RESEARCH DEGREES with PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY Gold Griot
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University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2018 Gold Griot: Jean-Michel Basquiat Telling (His) Story in Art Ross, Lucinda http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/11135 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. RESEARCH DEGREES WITH PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY Gold Griot: Jean-Michel Basquiat Telling (His) Story in Art by Lucinda Ross A thesis submitted to Plymouth University In partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Humanities and Performing Arts Doctoral Training Centre May 2017 Gold Griot: Jean-Michel Basquiat Telling (His) Story in Art Lucinda Ross Basquiat, Gold Griot, 1984 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. Gold Griot: Jean-Michel Basquiat Telling (His) Story in Art Lucinda Ross Abstract Emerging from an early association with street art during the 1980s, the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was largely regarded within the New York avant-garde, as ‘an exotic other,’ a token Black artist in the world of American modern art; a perception which forced him to examine and seek to define his sense of identity within art and within society. Drawing upon what he described as his ‘cultural memory,’ Basquiat deftly mixed together fragments of past and present, creating a unique style of painting, based upon his own experiences of contemporary American life blended with a remembering of an African past. This study will examine the work of Basquiat during the period 1978 – 1988, tracing his progression from obscure graffiti writer SAMO© to successful gallery artist. Situating my study of Basquiat’s oeuvre in relationship to Paul Gilroy’s concept of the Black Atlantic, I will analyse Basquiat’s exploration of his cultural heritage and depiction of a narrative of Black history, which confronts issues of racism and social inequality, and challenges the constraints of traditional binary oppositions. I will examine Basquiat’s representation of the icon of the griot; narrator of African history and mythical talisman, shedding new light on the artist’s reclamation of this powerful totem. Traversing the perimeters of the Black Atlantic I show how Basquiat’s work has influenced both fine art and urban cultural practice in Britain. Through analysis of Basquiat’s self-portraits I will examine his repositioning the black subject, literally and historically, within the tradition of painting, and argue that through this relocation, Basquiat’s work contributes to models of reparative histories. I will consider Basquiat’s processes of identification and his refusal to be labelled ‘a black artist,’ situating his visual construction of self identity in relation to a post-black aesthetic. Analysis of Basquiat’s paintings lies at the heart of my research, and I conclude my study with an in-depth consideration of three paintings created by the artist during the final year of his life which characterise the enduring themes within his expansive body of work. My research contributes to existing scholarship into the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, providing original insight into the work of this important artist. List of contents Introduction.........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 SAMO©: Graffiti, commodification and the politics of racialisation................12 Chapter 2 Reparative histories: Basquiat’s narrative of diaspora....................................29 Chapter 3 The griot as talismanic icon: Black Atlantic Creolité.........................................54 Chapter 4 Self- portraits: the resonance of Basquiat’s work in relation to a post-black aesthetic............................................................................................................................77 Chapter 5 Standing at the Crossroads: analysis of three paintings.................................100 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................121 Notes...............................................................................................................................125 Appendix 1 Chronology...................................................................................................139 Appendix 2 Exhibition history.........................................................................................145 Bibliography....................................................................................................................162 List of Illustrations Plates 1 & 2 SAMO graffiti photographed by Henry Flynt, New York 1980....................24 Pl. 3 Noc 167, Style Wars graffiti photographed by Henry Flynt, New York 1981..........24 Pl.4 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anti-Product Postcard, 1980................................................24 Pl. 5 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Car Crash), 1981...................................................25 Pl. 6 Cy Twombly, Apollo, 1975.......................................................................................25 Pl. 7 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Per Capita, 1981..................................................................26 Pl. 8 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto), 1981...................................................26 Pl. 9 Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Death of Michael Stewart, 1983...................................27 Pl.10 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Caesar) D 1981....................................................27 Pl. 11 Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled, 1954...................................................................27 Pl. 12 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Skull), 1981.........................................................28 Pl. 13 Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907...................................................50 Pl. 14 Lois Mailöu Jones, Les fetiches, 1938....................................................................50 Pl. 15 Aaron Douglas, Study for Aspects of Negro Life in African Setting, 1934.............50 Pl. 16 Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Nile (El Gran Espectaculo, 1983..................................51 Pl. 17 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta, 1983........51 Pl. 18 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Native Carrying Some Guns, Amorites on Safari, 1982....52 Pl. 19 Romare Bearden, Prevalence of Ritual: Conjur Woman, 1964.............................52 Pl. 20 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Obnoxious Liberals, 1982..................................................53 Pl. 21 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1985...................................................................71 Pl. 22 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Undiscovered Genius, 1982- 83........................................71 Pl. 23 Jean-Michel Basquiat, M, 1984.............................................................................72 Pl. 24 Photograph of Nnimm woman by R.F. Thompson, 1984......................................72 Pl. 25 Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol, Felix the Cat, 1984...................................72 Pl. 26 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gold Griot, 1984................................................................73 Pl. 27 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Flexible, 1984....................................................................73 Pl. 28 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grillo, 1984........................................................................74 Pl. 29 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gri Gri, 1986................................................................................74 Pl. 30 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Water Worshipper, 1984............................................................75 Pl. 31 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tenor, 1985.................................................................................75 Pl. 32 Jean-Michel Basquiat, To Be Titled, 1987.......................................................................76 Pl. 33 Robert Del Naja, King Jean White, 1989..........................................................................76 Pl. 34 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Helmet), 1981..........................94 Pl.35 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait, 1982........................................................................94 Pl. 36 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait as a Heel, 1982........................................................95 Pl. 37 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait, 1983.......................................................................95 Pl.38 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1960).............................................................................95 Pl.39 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dos Cabezas, 1982........................................................................96 Pl. 40 Andy Warhol, Portrait of Jean-Michel as David, 1984.....................................................96 Pl .41 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait with Tie, 1985..........................................................96 Pl. 42 Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983............................................................97