Customer Reviews

Jean Michel Basquiat (Art Random)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book with many of Basquiat's paintings and drawings. It also has various essays by art critics and people who knew him. I suppose the reviewers who slammed Basquiat also think anybody could knock over a couple of paint buckets and be Jackson Pollock. The genius of Basquit in my mind is his ability to create truly beautiful paintings while painting in a seemingly uncontrolled, primitive (I hate that word) fashion. The way he layered colors, and added details is incredible. My favorite is "Untitled (Skull)" 1981. Here is a brilliant example of how Basquiat combines dissarray, ugliness, harmony, and beauty all into the same striking painting. I know Basquiat idolized Hendrix and ultimately went out much like he did, unable to cope with his talent and the attention it brought. To me Basquiat's painting very much mirrors Hendrix's musical talents. They both created wild, noisy, seemingly unharnessed, unpolished art. But to the careful, sensitive observer the true beauty and magic is revealed.

This is by far the best catalogue of Basquiat's work as it was shown at the Whitney. By far, this book superseed others as it relates to quality and quantity of plates. Strongly recomend.

I am not convinced that this is the BEST Jean Michel Basquiat retrospective catalogue to date...but the work selected for this publication is certainly consistently better than most others published before or after this one. Basquiats peak of productivity was from1981-83 and much of that work is catalogued here..But the dissapointment is that many of his last works (circa 1988) will not be found here....but in the more extensive Basquiat catalogue published by the Tony Shafrazi Gallery.
There are also a few images here that will make you wonder why they were selected and some of the text seems to over emphesize  
the fact that Basquiat died of a DRUG OVERDOSE.
You can skip the text or consider it ....it's the work that counts in the end!

This is perhaps the most comprehensive collection of art and writings about one of the most incredible artists of the 20th century.

After discovering Basquiat a year ago through a black art history survery class I took, I was simply blown away by his work. As a result, I did a graduate paper on him. Anyone who has any knowledge of black art with respect to racism and the use of symblols in art which relate to one's culture, oppression, genocide, etc. could surely see the important messages floating throughout Basquiat's work. If everyone painted like the "master's"--oh what a boring world and perception of life that would be. If you love Basquiat like I do, read the biography by Hoban, watch the film "Basquiat" starring Jeffrey Wright as Jean Michel--who looks sooo much like him, and listen to the sound track afterwards. Very moving stuff!

i looked at this book everyday for about two years. the material seems to be thorough and complete and shows a wide range of his work. the works included will keep your appetite full. two crowns up.

When you click the Hardcover link on this page, it brings you to another book with a different cover that is listed as being published in October, 2010. Is it this book with a different cover? There is little information on the page for the new book. With the release of the Basquiat movie, is this classic book about him being re-printed? I saw the original exhibit at the Whitney and the second exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, but didn't think the book was affordable back then. The memories of his paintings have stuck with me for all those years since and I'm just glad that the catalogue for the now available again....if that's the case! Can someone answer my question...are these books one-and-the-same? Thanks. If that's the case, I look forward to getting a copy to read in October.

I'm not an expert on Jean Michel's work but I was really happy with this book. It's good quality, large format, contains a LOT of his work and there's also some text telling his story.

Basquiat is one of my favorite artists. I was first captivated by his works that were used in conjunction with Mya Angelou's poem Life Don't Frigten Me None. I was entranced by his art! I looked all over for a book that would give me a retrospective of his art. I found it. This book is wonderful. Great color great art work. Check it out. You'll Dig it too.

Such a tragedy for a talented fellow like Basquiat to succumb to the temptations of drugs at such an early age. His paintings are so raw and fresh. I feel as though he used canvasses as giant doodle pads which he displayed to the world. Many of our own doodle pads (next to our phones, on our office desks, etc.) end up in the [bin] but Basquiat's ended up in the galleries and museums of the world. Some think of his work as [bad] but I view it as a treasure. Fine art, cartoons, grafitti and doodling...the best things in life. This book is the best collection I've seen of his work. The reproductions are well done and the essays are enlightening. For the art afficianado, this book needs to join the collection.