ODE TO JEAN- MICHEL BASQUIAT

 

                                                 Opinions bad and good surround the work of Basquiat. Was he a genius with a brush or just a lucky young man made famous by wild times of Andy Warhol. 

A critic once said that in the darkest corners of the art world where paintings are left to die and be forgotten, “that Basquiat’s work will only occupy one second of even that space.” 

He was not a fan. Nor are a lot of other people, put off by the garish colors, inhuman shapes and the un defined nature of his whole work.

Still there are many things you can learn from Basquiat. The huge number of painting he did in his short life, how he was not afraid to paint big, show what he had, along the way gaining huge following and art sales. Perhaps more than anything though, you are impressed by the free nature of his work. 

How somehow he was able to break the bounds of most artists who can’t get beyond themselves. Getting past inhibitions is a life long effort for most of us. You never quite get there, perhaps not trusting your own skills.

Picasso once said about his later most famous work, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

Somehow Basquiat learned this early on. May we somehow be so blessed…

(Painting by Young, in ode to Basquiat)

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