KAR.EN WILKI N
223
market fo r them enthusiasti c, and pri ces soa red. " A no te o f ca uti o n : " His
success as an arti st, howeve r, did not give him a sense o f stability . In 1988 ,
before reaching his twenty- eighth birthday, he di ed o f a dru g ove rdose."
The rea l qu es ti o n , o f course, is no t " H ow successful was 13asqui at in
the overh ea ted art market o f th e 1980s?" o r even "W as he a victim o f
that market?" but " How good was his art?" R etrospecti ves are supposed
to settl e th e issue, but o ddl y, th e Whitn ey's effo rt did little to cl arify o r
expand what we already kn ew. Eight yea rs' w o rth o f what w e must as–
sume we re ca refull y ch ose n 13as qui ats had no diffe re nt impac t th an
smaller, possibly mo re expedi ent shows at T o ny Shafrazi's Soho ga ll ery o r
the collectio n at E li Broad 's pri va te muse um in Sa nta M o ni ca. Basqui at
wasn't an irredeemab ly bad painte r. H e was n ' t any kind o f colo ri st, but if
anything, hi s acc umul ati o n s of wo rd s, m as ks, fi gures, ca rtoons , and
skeletons arc put toge th e r almost too skill full y, ce rtainl y too stylishly.
Basquiat's pi ctures are superfi ciall y rude, bras h , and spo ntaneous, with a
flavor of th e stree t, but th ey prove to be sel f- consc io us and ca lculated .
They have th e m an ne r of o utrageousness rath e r th an th e fac t. C hildi sh
foot-stamping suppl ants rea l ange r; th e predi ctable conventi o ns o f
art brill
replace real rawness.
The Whitney's te xt panels decla red that Basquiat empl oyed a personal
litany of historica l, literary, and street references to express his rage at pe r–
sistent rac ial and soc ial inequiti es aro und the wo rld . The panels labo ri–
ously explained his allusio ns and stressed th e indi viduality o f hi s vo ice, the
depth of his ange r. T he state o f prese nt-day soc iety must be o f deep con–
cern to any blac k pe rson - o r any thinking pe rson o f any race - but the
randomness of Basqui at's refe rences subve rted any thes is o f pro fo und en–
gagement. Arbitrary assoc iations of w o rd and image, sca tte rsho t juxtapo–
sitions, read less as m anifestati o ns of o utrage th an as d espe rate effo rts to
attract attenti o n . And I kept being remin de d , above all , o f o th er art .
Basquiat's compositi ons, hi s gestures, shapes, and even his ways of putting
on paint are no t so much expressive impc rati ves as adro it cvoca tio ns o f
artists he presumabl y encountc rcd and admircd during hi s course o f self–
education. Ea rly Po ll ock , Gottli cb , Dubuffct, Twombley, and Miro w e re
present, albeit brutali zed and sct o n fast-fo rward , alo ng w ith less exalted
sources ranging fr0 111 anatomi ca l illustrati o ns to the bombasti c fl o urishes
of Matthi cu and thc Cobra gro up . Th e cffec t w as n ' t evcn o f mo dish ,
ironic appropriati on, but of simple pasti che, graduatc art-sc hool level, at
best.
I kept thinkin g of Flaube rt 's di ctum th at t he artist m akc his life as
simple as possib le in o rdc r to make his art as ex treme as possibl e. M atisse
subscribed to thi s no ti o n , too, li ving, fo r the most part , a life o f exempl ary
dullness. Yet in hi s art, he vc ntured to th c furth cst limits o f invc nti o n and
