DOS CABEZAS
Completion Date: 1982
Style: Neo-Expressionism
Genre: figurative
Technique: acrylic, crayon
Material: canvas
Dimensions: 152.5 x 152.5 cm
Gallery: Private Collection
/ Basquiat painted Dos Cabezas, a double
portrait showing Warhol next to Basquiat,
within only hours of meeting his hero,
had it delivered to the Factory, the paint
still wet, emphatically indicating the
younger artist's enthusiasm and excitement on meeting the King of Pop.
Basquiat explored the contrast between the two in the picture's dichotomy: he
presents Warhol as a glacial figure, pale, his head topped with one of his
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notorious wigs; this starkly contrasts with the thrusting black marks Basquiat
used to depict his own hair, as recorded in Warhol's portrait of him. Basquiat
presents it as a thrusting group of black tendrils snaking into the picture
surface's right half, as reminiscent of Franz Kline's paintings as of Basquiat's hair
as recorded in Warhol's portrait and contemporary photographs.
(3) WORLD//
art and what was considered art. Street art opposed the tradition of high
art being technique and fine precision which is appropriate for display. It
gained notoriety for its presence in art galleries of fine art, and became a
movement of expression despite the unsanctioned production.
Marcel Duchamp
FOUNTAIN (1917)
glazed ceramic with black paint
61cm x 36cm x 48cm
KEITH HARING//
American artist who responded to street culture of New York during 1980s.
His art expressed concepts of political, historical and social issues
including birth, death, sexuality and war.
Harings techniques emerged with chalk drawings and street graffiti in
subway stations to reach a wider audience.
Basquiat and Haring prudently produced works of childlike fascinations,
which were detailed and symbolic of messages they aimed to convey.
Haring was inspired by the study of semiotics, which prevail in his works.
Both Basquiat and Haring were graffiti artists who catered their art to a
larger audience to stimulate questions from the public.
Creations of Haring featured bold lines with vivid colours that stood out
and differed from Basquiat in technique and expression.
Haring focused on imagery and solid lines whilst Basquiat manipulated
symbolism through simplistic childlike gestural lines.
ANNADALE IMITATION REALISTS//
BANKSY//
Banksy
If graffiti Changed Anything (2011)
Spray painted, stencil
Fitzrovia, London
JR//
French
AUDIENCE//
Basquiats Untitled (History of the Black People) from 1983 was indicative of
the influence of Renaissance thinkers and artists on his work. The work itself
showed many similarities to Renaissance paintings; the painting included
multiple panels and revealed stretcher bars. In this particular piece, Basquiat
lived out a struggle which was all too familiar to him; the racial reality of the
United States. Intelligent and able to think for himself, Basquiat was very afraid,
and often paranoid, of the trouble he faced as both a black man and a black
artist in New York. He once told an interviewer, I am not a black artist, I am an
artist. Though Basquiat made multiple trips to Africa and was heavily invested
in African-American movements, he was also readily aware of the troubles he
faced and the judgements made against him because of his race. This painting
recreates his own ancestors arrival in the United States as slaves while also
drawing attention to centres of African American culture.
I believe I can actually draw
Jean-Michel Basquiat
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Gordon Bennett
Notes to Basquiat (911) 2001
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Collection of the artist, Brisbane, Australia.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY//
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/blog/arts-desk/Gordon-Bennett-artist-who-scaledheights-of-artworld/default.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hoban-basquiat.html
https://www.google.com.au/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDgQFjAE
ahUKEwis-a-Q1JLJAhXBjJQKHTRnDP0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artsy.net
%2Fartist%2Fjean-michelbasquiat&usg=AFQjCNF33xR8KCD6lxii2tCCa85Dtqb82Q&sig2=52g1hvOJb3WRJs
pbIAIwLw
http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/370
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/1988/11/jean-michel-basquiat
http://www.spin.com/2013/11/beat-bop-basquiat-k-rob-rammellzee-freak-freak/
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/jean-michel-basquiat-the-radiantchild/ZX6332A001S00
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