Annina Nosei at Phillips New York with Scott Nussbaum, Deputy Chairman, Americas and Senior International Specialist, Modern & Contemporary Art.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari, 1982 is on offer at Phillips’ Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 31 May in Hong Kong.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari, 1982. Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale Hong Kong.
In Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari, 1982, a Black figure dominates the canvas, arms raised to the sky, confronting a colonial poacher. The present artwork evinces Basquiat's visual poetry, as layered linguistic meaning intertwines with vivid imagery to provoke thought and reflection on themes including slavery and empire. The exposed stretcher enhances its gritty narrative, infusing it with a raw, unrestrained essence and a near-sculptural presence characteristic of Basquiat’s celebrated stretcher paintings. Reduced to caricatures, Basquiat’s figures symbolise 'native' and 'coloniser.' They stand as a poignant critique of colonial commerce, encapsulating broader themes of colonisation, commercialisation, and African American history. In Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari, Basquiat's art amalgamates diverse cultural influences, ranging from the Bible to African tribal masks, with textual references to money, value, authenticity, and ownership. This synthesis creates a unique iconography reflective of his New York experience as well as his Caribbean ethnicity and West-African heritage.
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BASQUIAT: Property from the Collection of Yusaku Maezawa >