Basquiat: Untitled 2000+ Danielle Russell How do you approach Jean Michel Basquiat’s body of work? One can begin with his lifelong history use of conceptual imagery, an outstanding colorist, poetic text as a graffiti artist, musical influences, use of iconography, and historical references of his multicultural heritage. According to Eric Fretz there is a richness in Basquiat's work that makes it open to many interpretations.1 Today Basquiat legacy as an artist remains a topic of critical and artistic debate. While alive he was variously viewed as a genius, an opportunist, an untrained primitive or idiot savant, and because of his blackness was once called the exotic and exploited mascot of a mostly white downtown art world2. Basquiat developed his own content and form without formal training yet he understood how to capitalize and dominate the Neo-Expressionist 1980s art market. Often mainstream critics scrutinized his personal lifestyle rather than taking the time to become knowledgeable about the artist work. Critic Robert Hughes for example would interpret Basquiat works within Eurocentric hierarchical value systems. Critics made much of Basquiat's use of sources: vagrant code-symbols, quotes from 1 Eric Frenz, Basquait: The Biography. Greenwood 2010 174 2 Roberta Smith, Basquiat: Man for his Decade, http://nyti.ms/IfmJCk (Oct 1992) 1 Leonardo or Gray's Anatomy, African bushman art or Egyptian murals. But these were so scattered, so lacking in plastic force or conceptual interest, that they seem mere browsing--homeless representation.3 Despite the generalized commentary about Basquiat, he remains one of 1980s most successful artist. Basquiat created thousands of paintings and drawings in his nine year career. Irony of a Negro Policeman and The Nile(The History of Black People) are two of the hundreds that symbolize his multi-cultural and historical heritage. Figure 1(from left to right): Jean-Michel Basquait, The Irony of a Negro Policeman Acrylic and oil paintstick on wood, 72x48 in. (183cm x 122cm), 1981. Through extensive research The Irony of the Negro Policeman portrays an 3 Robert Hughes American Visions The Epic History of Art in America, Alfred A. Knopf, inc 1997 2 anatomized black figure signifying a policeman. Author Jana Evans Braziel explains Basquait’s Irony of Negro Policeman (1981) sardonically and bitingly critiques the ways in which some members of the African American community become complicit with institutionalized forms of whiteness and corrupt white regimes of power: in this case, the juridical system and specifically the role of police in maintaining “law and order” at all cost through all means. (Figure 1)”4 Why would a black man want to become a member of an organization that uses his blackness as a pawn to oppress other black males. Basquiat illustrates a black disfigured male with a yellow heart along with severed paws and feet caged or trapped in a predominately white background. Also the titanic scale of the painting represents power. The black figure is outlined on the left with a thin white line. His hat has imagery of what looks to be a cage. The primary colors red, yellow, and blue colors are the main color palette choice in the artwork. This can represent how law enforcement can be systematic and dominate. The eyes and teeth are drawn violently as if this image was beast or menace. His heart is yellow and surrounding the heart is a thin red line. This can read as the figure becoming a coward by joining forces with the enemy. He is playing both sides and therefore his body is dismembered and deteriorating. The trunk of the “Negro Policeman” is 4 Jana Evans Braziel, Artist,Performers, and Black Masculinity in the Haitian Diaspora, (2008, 196) (Rapping B(l)ack, 196) 3 painted in dark-blue hues─the color of police uniforms─and marked with red and white lines, suggesting both violence (or blood) and whiteness (or power).5 The word irony appears twice on the canvas. The work IRONY composed at the top of the work is barely suggested. Basquiat cancels out text in his works often for aesthetic purposes. It is to engage the viewer to figure out what is being suggested or said. On the third panel, the word PAW or PAWN is written slightly. Frenz exemplifies the meaning of “PAW” and the role of SAMO© Near the foot, Basquiat wrote “PAW (LEFT)” by scratching through the white paint to the red below. Labeling the foot “paw” turns the figure almost animal-like, but extra marks also suggests the word “pawn” as if the black policeman was only a pawn in the white man’s game...it comments on the role of the police in reinforcing racism and on the ambiguous role of black people in the police force. Also, by implying that African Americans can be co-opted by the system, Basquiat could be commenting on his role as an artist in the galleries he had criticized as SAMO©6 Figure 2: (from left to right) Jean-Michel Basquait, The Nile (The History of Black People) Acrylic and oil paintstick on canvas mounted on wood supports, three panels 5 Jana Evans Braziel, Artist,Performers, and Black Masculinity in the Haitian Diaspora, (2008, 196) (Rapping B(l)ack, 196) 6 Erik Frenz, Jean­Micheal Basquait: A Biography, Greenwood. 2010,86 4 68x141 inches (172.5x358 cm) overall 1983. The Nile(History of Black People) has iconic references to the Ancient Egyptian, Caribbean, and black culture. On the first panel NUBA is above two cartoon like Nubian masks. Both masks hae ⏀ representing the Catholic history of the Haitian culture. Below the mask is a horse behind a white background. Alongside of the horse is a man pointing to MUJER (spanish for woman) on an oar like boat. The word SALT also appears in a green box. In between the first and second panel is an eye. Osiris (The God of the Dead) stands in front of an oar like boat with the AMEN or AMUN scribbled. The word sickle is in between the boat and a sickle. The third panel has a dog with text on the body stating “A Dog Guarding A Pharoh.” Beside the dog stands a man with the words “ECSLAVO, SLAVE, ECSLAVO. The word “ECSLAVO” has letters scribbled out yet one can decipher the Spanish word meaning slave in English. Also he references Memphis, Egypt and Memphis, Tennessee. There is a Memphis, Tennessee in America named after Memphis. Egypt that was located in Thebes during the Old Kingdom. The word HEMLOCK is in yellow and hemlocks are a highly poisonous European plant. The number “6” is above the word hemlock suggesting that Memphis became a prestigious dynasty during the 6th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. I believe that Basquiat is telling the viewer a story that is has a deep meaning. Memphis, Egypt is south of the Mediterranean Sea and lies east of the Nile River. Memphis, Tennessee is a southern state in North America. The female black widow is highly poisonous and can be found in southern states. This piece can be interpreted in many ways however I believe the 5 piece is primarily discussing the slave trade and how it affected blacks and still affecting them today. 6 7 8.