BASQUIAT

[the blob]

"Actually Jean used to be a graffitti artist. Just like Keith Haring. "

 

yup, and they're both dead.

 

this sort of stuff i have no interest in. some of his figurative stuff i find sort of interesting. i'm not selling my apartment to buy one of them, but if I saw it in the trash I'd hang it on my wall even if I was never allowed to re-sell it.

[Lambo]

I was looking at the painting (if that's what they're calling it) and saw something my son would've done at 5 years old....

 

 

 

Now I forget, is THAT supposed to be "fine art"?

 

Happy New Year!

 

Lamb

[Foolkiller]

Both Dave and I went to the Basquiat exhibit with Gene, and while I wouldn't say Basquiat is a favorite of mine, I would simply say that many arguments are made disparaging a great deal of "modern" artists for their lack of technical skill in the portrayal of their work. In fact there was an artist who had a piece in the museum whose sole line of work was replicating modern art and basically showing that anyone could do it (the piece I recall was a Pollock style painting) -- of course, a distinguishing factor on the piece was his social commentary about the art he was critiquing. Capturing an accurate (or even beautiful distortion) of reality is one branch of artwork. Many detractors will hold up a picture of a child and say, how is it any different (they are comparing the quality of the work). Traditionally, the response is the thought or the vision of the artist is what sets it apart. While I was not really all that moved by Basquiat's work, I did appreciate it on a certain level -- but technical skill -- or the replication of reality -- is not the only level to appreciate or define fine art on.

 

 

 

Anyone into Basquiat ? I was looking at one of his paintings and saw Thor, X-Men and Superman.

 

First, you can't judge the man's work by that one piece. There was a fantastic Basquiat retrospective earlier this year at the Brooklyn Museum of Art where you could have seen the full range of his work and see how it evolved, etc. There was one piece, incidentally, that featured Batman, Robin, the Joker and the Riddler.

[SandBat-migration]

Pretty cool extension of the crudeness in some of Twombly's and Dubuffet's work. The repetition of words and images owing as much to warhol as the music of the time. Some of his works really come together in composition, references, with an underlieing honesty and I've found it rewarding.

[That Ron Dude]

I like the movie. Great soundtrack. His art looks very interesting in the movie. I have one book about him too. But I have to say that I get little emotional charge from his work compared to say, that of Steve Ditko or Al Williamson. I know this may be seen as a strange comparison but I stick by it. I would stick by it on a "New York art of the 80s" discussion board too, if there was such a thing.