Art & Design
What Jean-Michel Basquiat’s ‘Defacement’ (1983) Means Today In September of 1983, a 25-year-old man by the name of Michael Stewart died at the hands of a police officer in New York’s East Village. Stewart was a student at Pratt Institute, an artist, and Black. Jean-Michel Basquiat, also an artist, also Black, and physically resembling the dead man, heard the news. ‘[Stewart] could have been me’, he repeated. Basquiat painted ‘Defacement’ or ‘The Death of Michael Stewart’ soon after. It is a work that radiates anger and fear. It pleads for a renewed faith in humanity. George Floyd’s death in May of this year retains the echo of Stewart’s. As the world collectively remembers victims of racial violence, cultural outlets turn the spotlight onto artists of colour. But what did it mean to be a Black artist in 1983, and what does it mean 37 years later? Neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s style is most easily described as ‘raw’. The paint is applied impulsively, as though the artist’s emotions could not be contained. This is the case for ‘Defacement’ as well. Splashes of pink make up the face of the policeman. His uniform is electric blue and his club is bright orange. He bares his teeth as he prepares to hit the Black figure. The Black figure, formed only from a few brushstrokes, stands between the first policeman and his colleague. ‘Defacement’ has no finished background, but it is complete. All that needs to be said is there. Within the larger context of Basquiat’s work, The Guardian has dubbed ‘Defacement’ his ‘most personal’ work, undoubtedly because it relates to the artist’s identity as a Black man. The fact that both Stewart and Basquiat are linked by Suzanne Malouk, whom both had dated, re-emphasises the personal connection of the piece. ‘Defacement’ hits the viewer like a tsunami - the lines of the painting feel like marks etched onto the skin.
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