Basquiat - Skull Skatedeck Triptych

This open edition skate deck triptych by Jean-Michel Basquiat titled 'Skull' (1981) is presented on 7 ply Grade A Canadian Maple wood and Licensed by Artestar, New York and distributed by The Skateroom. Top-print includes printed signature of the artist (in plate).

Skull, this iconic visual is an untitled piece originally presented at Jean-Michel Basquiat’s debut solo exhibition in New York City. Skull, as it came to be known, features a deconstructed figure that plays heavily on the contrast between inner and outer elements – a suggested dichotomy prominent in many of Basquiat’s works. Though the piece seems easy to understand at first glance, a deeper look leaves us wondering what message the mythical artist truly wanted to deliver.

Size: 800 x 200mm (each)

A poet, musician, and graffiti prodigy in late-1970s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat had honed his signature painting style of obsessive scribbling, elusive symbols and diagrams, and mask-and-skull imagery by the time he was 20. “I don’t think about art while I work," he once said. “I think about life." Basquiat drew his subjects from his own Caribbean heritage—his father was Haitian and his mother of Puerto Rican descent—and a convergence of African-American, African, and Aztec cultural histories with Classical themes and contemporary heroes like athletes and musicians. Often associated with Neo-expressionism, Basquiat received massive acclaim in only a few short years, showing alongside artists like Julian Schnabel, David Salle, and Francesco Clemente.