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Contemporary Art's Power Trifecta
HOW BASQUIAT, WARHOL AND HARING PERSIST THROUGH THE DECADES Written by Nina Johnson, Arts Editorial Assistant Graphic by Shea Murphy, Contributing Graphic Artist
Art’s presence as an important and captivating source of power long precedes the entrance of Basquiat, Warhol and Haring, but in the mid20th century, these artists and their genius took hold, enchanting most and inspiring many. The question is, what similar forces drove their influence— whether in Pop Art, neo-expressionism or subway station walls—to grow?
Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York native who grew up frequenting the Museum of Modern Art, was a gifted student and eventual teen runaway who made his jump into the art world through graffiti under the pseudonym SAMO.1 Starting in Manhattan’s high art districts of Soho and the Lower East Side, his creations were distinct and eclectic. He rejected consumerism, class systems and systemic racism, and conveyed these messages through the language used in his art. Basquiat is also recognized for his elaborate depiction of the body in all of his work.2
His quick rise to fame equated to the cord his art struck: his compounded use of pictograms, poetry and opinionated phrases created the basis of his unconventionality and eventual adoration. He inspired critical thinking, and didn’t fear making a mess. Even after his tragic death from an overdose at only 27-years-old, he never ceased to amaze fans and critics, and his power persisted.
The eldest of the group, Andy Warhol, is a complicated artist, though he remains a household name next to artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh. Warhol’s paintings of the banal—which highlighted consumerism of the time— quickly moved to the forefront of the Pop Art movement, and began influencing the worlds of fashion and film.3 His art was loud and larger than life while his infamously strange persona shocked his observers.
His sublime vision of life is not without issue: Warhol and his art bring into question whether someone’s power is still valid when aspects of it now seem antiquated, or problematic. For a life as chronicled as Warhol’s, gaps and hypocrisies in his art have become subject
¹ “Race, Power, Money–the Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat,” The Guardian, Sept. 8, 2017. ² Ibid. ³ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Andy Warhol,” Britannica, updated Aug. 2, 2021. to criticism. His depiction of women is seen as exploitative and disconcerting, and his anti-consumerist message did not align with his mass-produced art. Warhol’s power feels glib compared to the grandeur it once was; however, his influence is inestimable.4
Keith Haring, a fellow graffiti aficionado, created one of the most distinguishable visual languages in modern culture.5 His short career, beginning and ending in the ‘80s, took over the public sphere unexpectedly. Haring’s style had a fresh feeling, providing a light when morale was low. The symbols and figures in his art translated into a novel wave of optimism and positivity through the use of bold colors and dancers.6
Haring’s messages were clear-cut and poignant, with one infamous piece stating “Ignorance=Fear, Silence=Death, Fight AIDS, Act Up” in the midst of the then-unspoken AIDS crisis.7 He was refreshing and generous in his work and what appeared to be an unabated desire for good. His power arose in the unpredictable nature of bringing culture’s most silenced issues to where they should be: everywhere. Haring’s use of the unexpected lay in his strict dualism: discussing the most difficult topics through art that even children were visually drawn to.
Despite these artists’ shared sentiments of anti-consumerism, today their influence and their art gets used
in ways contradictory to their intentions. Tiffany & Co., for example, used Basquiat’s imagery in its rebranding despite his known criticism of wealth and consumerism.8 While an artist’s power and prominence are survived by those who are passionate, it requires an air of cautiousness, as well as an understanding that passion and blind consumerism are not the same.
Great art is meant to cover the world with its message—it’s sufficient to say this is something their creators want, too. It’s especially important to be a conscientious consumer today, knowing how often an artist’s message becomes commercialized or misconstrued. Even if that Basquiat backpack you wear around campus may be an act of capitalist enterprise, it can also be an act of passion when you take the time to educate yourself on the life and beliefs of the creator. Once this happens, it truly is the power of the artist persisting. ■
⁴ Ibid. ⁵ “How Keith Haring Used Art for Good,” Tate, accessed Oct. 26, 2021. ⁶ Ibid. ⁷ Ibid. ⁸ Rakewell, “A Basquiat at Tiffany’s,” Apollo Magazine, Sept. 12, 2021.
