In the three decades since he died, at 27, of a heroin overdose, Jean-Michel Basquiat has come to be thought of in timeless terms. With every passing year, his paintings only rise in acclaim, in price, in the essential perception of where he stands in the pantheon of 20th century art. But it wasn’t always that way. In his time, Basquiat was a celebrated but intensely controversial figure. There are still those who look at Basquiat’s art and don’t see the totemic poetry of it; they see words and blotches and scrawls. Yet if you’re a Basquiat believer, as I am, what’s extraordinary about his work is that it is composed of words and blotches and scrawls — but when you look at the paintings, they’re alive. They pulsate.
There are other painters whose work has this dimension (Jackson Pollock springs to mind), but in Basquiat...
There are other painters whose work has this dimension (Jackson Pollock springs to mind), but in Basquiat...
- 5/9/2018
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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