Scribble
1980
Created during Basquiat's pivotal early period when he was transitioning from street art to gallery recognition, Scribble exemplifies the raw gestural energy that would define his groundbreaking practice. The work exists as a digital print measuring 39.878 × 39.878 cm, capturing the artist's characteristic spontaneous mark-making that challenged conventional boundaries between high and low art. Basquiat's 1980 output represents a crucial moment when his graffiti-influenced aesthetic began gaining serious critical attention in the New York art world.
- Medium
- Digital print
- Dimensions
Artists in conversation
Keith Haring
American · b. 1958
Haring shared Basquiat's roots in New York street culture and graffiti art, producing vibrant figurative works with bold gestural mark making that blurred the boundary between urban street art and fine art gallery spaces.
Cy Twombly
American · b. 1928
Twombly's large scale canvases filled with spontaneous scribbles, gestural marks, and raw expressive energy closely mirror the uninhibited mark making quality of Scribble, with both artists elevating the act of scrawling into serious neo expressionist fine art.
Julian Schnabel
American · b. 1951
A fellow neo expressionist working in the same New York art scene during the early 1980s, Schnabel created raw figurative works with explosive gestural energy and vibrant color palettes that parallel Basquiat's rebellious approach to contemporary painting.
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