Jean-Michel Basquiat

Leah Hoffman

Jean-Michel Basquiat's work is unmistakably unique. The images look frantic and eccentric, which reflected his personality. His paintings look like scenes from crazy dream, and almost like a mature version on a child scribbling on a piece of paper. Looking at his work you can feel the intense emotion he put into each line and each stroke of paint. Some of the canvases look extremely frantic. The crazed nature of his work stemmed from his drug addictions, and you looking at his work almost feels like you know how the drugs made him feel. I feel extreme connections to these painting because of the sense of emotion they evoke. Even though nothing in his paintings is really realistic he just has this overwhelming ability to make you feel the passion he had for his work whether he intended it or not. When I see his paintings I feel like I'm looking inside his head. He is one of the best examples of an artist who pours his heart and soul into his work. His strange images are nothing like anything I've seen. He uses simple lines and blocks and shapes but his work is still extremely complex. He was completely self-taught. He did graffiti and really whatever the hell he felt like, and you can see that attitude in his work. You cannot fake the eccentric style and kind of crazy images this man put on canvas.

She Installs Confidence and Picks His Brain Like a Salad, 1987
Acrylic and oil paint stick on wood, 92½ x 116 1/8 inches (235 x 295 cm)
Galleries Yvon Lambert, Paris

Basquiat in Great Jones Street Studio, New York, 1987

 

-Leah Hoffman 10/2/13