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Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

artsy.net

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Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#11

Post by keiferski »

I printed this HN comment out about 3 years ago and still have it on my wall as motivation. It's from an article about a lifelong artist that never quite "made it" and I think it is a good answer to the question.

Compare him to Picasso. Picasso never said "I had to pay the rent." He never considered earning money with anything other than painting. When he had no money he lived in friends' apartments. He faced and accepted poverty and hunger. Picasso did not compromise. Same with Van Gogh. Paintings on their own have no value. Buyers pay for the life story of the painters. The more heroic is your life the more expensive your paintings. Painter's job is to market himself in order to create a life mythology. This guy just painted. He did not create a myth around his life.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16092168

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#12

Post by TigeriusKirk »

keiferski wrote: post #10
phnofive wrote: post #2

I feel like I’m looking at a magic eye ( I also haven’t yet been able to ‘’see’’ one of those ) when I see art like that linked here. Is there a trick to appreciating it beyond what I can see?

Basquiat in particular requires knowledge of 1970s-80s New York, the birth of hip-hop culture and graffiti, the art world, and a whole lot of other things. In short, Basquiat is appreciated because he was a visceral, anti-establishment, extremely young guy whose work was raw and real, in comparison to the somewhat corporatized minimal aesthetic [1] that was popular at the time. He was also a really good storyteller (…

I came of age in the 1980s. While I didn't live in NYC, there was a lot of crossover between the New York crowd and the artsy people in my city so I got a lot of exposure to it.

The strange thing is that while I was aware of Basquiat and numerous other NYC artists of the era, I didn't think much of them. They didn't seem special to me because they were just what was going on at the time.

I have a specific memory of when the biopic came out and wondering why they made a movie about Basquiat. I had no real frame of reference. Same thing with music, which was even more of a crossover locally for me than art.

It's only been in recent years I've been able to look back and see what was going on and why it was special. It's mostly a matter of exposure to a lot of other art and music, gaining a lot of context and perspective.

Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#13

Post by keiferski »

TigeriusKirk wrote: post #12
keiferski wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basquiat in particular requires knowledge of 1970s-80s New York, the birth of hip-hop culture and graffiti, the art world, and a whole lot of other things. In short, Basquiat is appreciated because he was a visceral, anti-establishment, extremely young guy whose work was raw and real, in comparison to the somewhat corporatized minimal aesthetic [1] that was popular at the time. He was also a really good storyteller (…

I came of age in the 1980s. While I didn't live in NYC, there was a lot of crossover between the New York crowd and the artsy people in my city so I got a lot of exposure to it. The strange thing is that while I was aware of Basquiat and numerous other NYC artists of the era, I didn't think much of them. They didn't seem special to me because they were just what was going on at the time. I have a specific memory of w…

> Makes me wonder what I'm not appreciating enough today.

There is a lot of creativity going on with video. Especially in the budding genre of "fashion film", which is kind of reinventing the art of film to have less narrative and more visuals. To me, it feels like (what I imagine) the early days of film felt like.

Stuff like this seems totally new and fresh to me:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BZcQOlhx0

- https://vimeo.com/channels/fashionfilms

- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDs4bekfOXTOQpYpptWo...

Nick Knight and his site ShowStudio are at the forefront of this:

https://www.showstudio.com

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#14

Post by i_love_limes »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I printed this HN comment out about 3 years ago and still have it on my wall as motivation. It's from an article about a lifelong artist that never quite "made it" and I think it is a good answer to the question. Compare him to Picasso. Picasso never said "I had to pay the rent." He never considered earning money with anything other than painting. When he had no money he lived in friends' apartments. He faced and acc…

I agree far more with the top response to that quote than I do to the quote.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#15

Post by bitexploder »

jahnu wrote: post #4
phnofive wrote: post #2

I feel like I’m looking at a magic eye ( I also haven’t yet been able to ‘’see’’ one of those ) when I see art like that linked here. Is there a trick to appreciating it beyond what I can see?

The best way to appreciate it is to learn the history and immerse yourself in the culture. Contemporary art is not typically created for instant gratification or understanding but rather for an audience familiar with the world within which it sits. Like Free Jazz or heavily peated whiskies there is a path into appreciation that isn't necessarily short. Also it just isn't for everyone. I love much of those things but…

Art to me is basically history in picture form. I think that is why it continues to have intrinsic value year after year. Art on its own can be really boring, but in context it can be quite interesting.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#16

Post by devilduck »

keiferski wrote: post #11

I printed this HN comment out about 3 years ago and still have it on my wall as motivation. It's from an article about a lifelong artist that never quite "made it" and I think it is a good answer to the question. Compare him to Picasso. Picasso never said "I had to pay the rent." He never considered earning money with anything other than painting. When he had no money he lived in friends' apartments. He faced and acc…

He never made it largely due to the fact that many culture vultures were capitalizing on his work without paying him.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#17

Post by nwienert »

phnofive wrote: post #7
acjohnson55 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate. I actually used to work at Artsy (the company who published this article), and before I worked there, I felt much the same way. What I learned after being immersed in the art world is that occasionally, art will "speak" to me immediately. But more often, it grows on me as I understand the context of the art and who made it. This is definitely the case for me with Basquiat, whose work can look like child…

Thanks, I appreciate your guidance. I’m admittedly self-conditioned to snap judgements on aesthetics, and despite reading the article, that’s probably what blocks me from getting it. Glad to know there may be a cure!

Keep in mind you’re living in a post-Basquiat world, he’s been ingested by the culture, his novelty is hard to feel now. Not that novelty is everything, there’s still obviously a lot of really interesting latent talent. But he also was making statements and refuting trends of his time, and all great artists innovate. It’s like seeing Rothko now, harder to appreciate because there’s been so much after Rothko, and a lot of that style was successful because of him since.

In a way a lot of artists reveal new paths, unique ways of seeing the world, so you need the full historical context to appreciate them. Kanye was revolutionary in hip hop, but today it’s easy to hear him and say so what? But he invented many of the popular sounds now.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#18

Post by devilduck »

phnofive wrote: post #2

I feel like I’m looking at a magic eye ( I also haven’t yet been able to ‘’see’’ one of those ) when I see art like that linked here. Is there a trick to appreciating it beyond what I can see?

It's ok to just not like something that is widely seen as beautiful art. I enjoy Basquiat but his work certainly hasn't moved me as much as someone like Beksinski. It doesn't make you a dullard or anything for not appreciating Basquiat. Can you believe there are people who think Pollack is trash too?

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#19

Post by devilduck »

nwienert wrote: post #17
phnofive wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, I appreciate your guidance. I’m admittedly self-conditioned to snap judgements on aesthetics, and despite reading the article, that’s probably what blocks me from getting it. Glad to know there may be a cure!

Keep in mind you’re living in a post-Basquiat world, he’s been ingested by the culture, his novelty is hard to feel now. Not that novelty is everything, there’s still obviously a lot of really interesting latent talent. But he also was making statements and refuting trends of his time, and all great artists innovate. It’s like seeing Rothko now, harder to appreciate because there’s been so much after Rothko, and a lo…

I agree with this, except the part about Kanye inventing anything. I'd like to know what exactly you hear in "popular sounds" that you think he invented? There's almost certainly someone else who did it first.

Re: Jean-Michel Basquiat on How to Be an Artist

#20

Post by itronitron »

phnofive wrote: post #2

I feel like I’m looking at a magic eye ( I also haven’t yet been able to ‘’see’’ one of those ) when I see art like that linked here. Is there a trick to appreciating it beyond what I can see?

There is no trick to appreciating it, just that people that own work by a particular artist have a vested interest in talking that artist up and getting others to 'appreciate it.'

The best advice I can give is to spend time with a particular work of art.

Go to a museum or gallery, pick a specific painting or sculpture, and then come back to visit the same work of art multiple times, preferably on different days of the week, at different times and under different lighting conditions.

A good work of art will show you something different every time you visit.

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