Jean-Michel Basquiat's Artistic Process: From Concept to Creation

His influence on contemporary art is immeasurable, shaping the visual language of the 1980s through his distinctive Neo-Expressionism and graffiti-infused style, and encouraging artists to use their work as expressions of self-identity.

Sources of Inspiration

Basquiat's artistic process is inspired by his personal experiences, cultural heritage, and acute awareness of societal issues. Growing up in a diverse cultural milieu, his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage played a significant role in shaping his worldview. His works are imbued with references to African and Caribbean cultures and historical iconography. Basquiat used these references to highlight pertinent social issues, particularly struggles of racial inequality and the erasure of artistry amongst African Americans. This is most explicitly seen in works such as Undiscovered Genius (1983) and Hollywood Africans (1983).

Basquiat’s prolific use of symbols, particularly skeletons and skulls, articulated his concerns surrounding violence and mortality. A car accident as a child resulted in Basquiat spending a considerable amount of time in hospital, during which his mother gifted him a copy of Gray’s Anatomy (1858). This encyclopaedia on human anatomy left the young Basquiat with a fascination for the anatomical form, and this influence is reflected throughout his oeuvre.

Additionally, the chaotic energy and gritty realities of New York City, particularly the Lower East Side and its burgeoning graffiti scene, fueled Basquiat’s artistic vision. His early involvement in the graffiti project SAMO©, and his artistic circle including street artists Al Diaz and Rammellzee, resulted in his artworks containing district graffiti-inspired techniques. Furthermore, Basquiat drew unique inspiration from New York’s vibrant and diverse cultural scene, integrating prominent jazz musicians and sportsmen into his pieces.

Idea Development

Basquiat's process of brainstorming and developing concepts was organic and spontaneous. He was known for carrying sketchbooks and often noted ideas; snippets of conversations or quick sketches that later evolved into complex artworks. These sketchbooks were a crucial part of his creative arsenal, serving as repositories of thoughts and visual experiments that he could revisit and develop further.

Choosing the Right Materials

Basquiat had a distinctive approach to materials, often using a combination of traditional and unconventional media. He worked on various surfaces, including canvas, paper, and objects like doors, windows, and pieces of furniture. He also used a variety of mediums, including spray paint, acrylic, crayon and even human hair, seen on his performance piece Untitled (Football Helmet) (1981). This eclectic choice of materials added a unique texture and depth to his works, reflecting his innovative spirit and the urban environment he inhabited.

Initial Sketches and Layout

Basquiat typically began his pieces with quick sketches and preliminary layouts. These initial drawings helped him map out the composition and establish the foundational structure of the artwork. His sketches were often loose and gestural, capturing the raw energy and emotion that he would later expand upon.

Building Layers

Layering was a fundamental technique in Basquiat's work, creating depth and complexity. He built his pieces in multiple stages, adding layers of paint, paper, symbols, and textual elements. This approach allowed him to juxtapose different textures and imagery, creating a rich, multi-dimensional effect and showcasing his background in street art and graffiti techniques. Intentionally contrasting layers not only added depth, but also served as metaphors for the complexity of the issues he was highlighting through his works. The layers were not just a fundamental technique, they revealed the levels of meaning behind each piece, and encouraged his viewers to participate in more introspective meditations. Notable works of Basquiat that showcase his layering technique include Bird On Money (1981), Erocia (1987) and Olympic (1983).

Incorporation of Text and Symbols

Text and symbols are integral to Basquiat's work, serving as both visual elements and conveyors of meaning. His engagement with graffiti during his teenage years marked his later artistic interest in uniting text and imagery in his compositions. Basquiat frequently integrated text into his pieces, obscuring certain words in order to draw more attention to issues he wanted to highlight. Basquiat revealed; “I cross out words so you will see them more; the fact that they are obscured makes you want to read them”. He seamlessly integrated words, phrases, and symbols into his compositions, using them to challenge the viewer and provoke thought. Basquiat was influenced by his passion for hip-hop, and incorporated the genre’s technique of breaking up and sampling different works to create a unique whole piece. This combination of text and imagery created a dynamic interplay that is both visually striking and intellectually engaging.

Preparing for Exhibitions

Preparing for exhibitions involved selecting works that best represented Basquiat's vision and message. The presentation and curation of his pieces were crucial, as thoughtful curation helped highlight the thematic and stylistic elements of his art and influenced how the public and critics perceived his work.

Basquiat’s first exhibition was a public group show in a vacant Times Square building in 1980, which marked a turning point for Basquiat and led to his first solo exhibition in 1982, opened at the Fun Gallery in the East Village. Among the works exhibited were A Panel of Experts (1982) and Equals Pi (1982).

Reception and Critique

Basquiat's art was met with a varied reception during his lifetime and posthumously. Initially, his raw, graffiti-influenced style garnered mixed reactions; while some critics and audiences celebrated his originality and emotional intensity, others dismissed it as chaotic and lacking refinement.

Despite this, Basquiat quickly rose to prominence in the 1980s art scene, gaining the support of influential figures like Warhol, whose guidance and collaboration legitimised Basquiat’s work within the exclusive contemporary art scene of the 1980s. Over time, the appreciation for his work has grown substantially, his pieces recognised and admired for their profound commentary on social and cultural issues, and holding incredibly high market value.

Basquiat's journey from the streets of New York City to the apex of the contemporary art world is a testament to his extraordinary talent and innovative spirit. His creative process, deeply rooted in personal experiences and cultural heritage, combined with his acute awareness of societal issues, produced artworks that challenge, provoke, and inspire. His artistic process, from conceptualisation to intricate layering of paint, text and symbols, reveals the depth and complexity of his masterpieces. Basquiat's legacy is not only seen in his influence on contemporary art and his profound commentary on race and identity, but also in the way his process continues to inspire new generations of artists to explore their identities and challenge societal norms through their work.