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December 16, 2019

“Rusting Red Car in Kuau “ by Jean Michel Basquiat

Rusting Red Car in Kuau “ by Jean Michel Basquiat was executed in 1984 during one of #Basquiats jaunts to Hawaii, made obvious both from the painting’s title as well as the astute handling of color and line exhibited within the work. The paintings and drawings the artist completed while in Hawaii show exceptional precision and attention to detail, a characteristic made evident by the manner in which the red car is fully rendered as the focal point of the painting. The historical significance of this painting is threefold. In addition to the subject and origin of the work being of particular importance in the context of Basquiat’s career, Red Car in Kuau was completed around the time that Basquiat’s relationship with Andy #Warhol began to mature. Many speculate that this work is said to be in reference to Warhol’s car crash images of the 1960s. Red Car in Kuau is a preeminent example of Basquiat in conversation with Andy Warhol, preceding their formal collaboration, which began later that year. @diadetroit

#1984

Oil stick and oil on canvas

72 x 96 in .

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October 24, 2018

Frank Stella (1983)

Frank Stella, in full Frank Philip Stella, (born May 12, 1936, Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.), American painter who began as a leading figure in the Minimalist art movement and later became known for his irregularly shaped works and large-scale multimedia reliefs.

Frank Stella works are influenced by Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline and Caravaggio. This 3 D Stella pictured above is one of my favorite paintings at the Detroit Institute Of Arts museum.

Photo 📸 Kim Bell

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October 23, 2018

Basquiat “Skull” (1982)

Many of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings are in some way autobiographical, and Untitled may be considered a form of self-portraiture. The skull here exists somewhere between life and death. The eyes are listless, the face is sunken in, and the head looks lobotomized and subdued. Yet there are wild colors and spirited marks that suggest a surfeit of internal activity. Developing his own personal iconography, in this early work Basquiat both alludes to modernist appropriation of African masks and employs the mask as a means of exploring identity. Basquiat labored over this painting for months — evident in the worked surface and imagery — while most of his pieces were completed with bursts of energy over just a few days. The intensity of the painting, which was presented at his debut solo gallery exhibition in New York City, may also represent Basquiat’s anxieties surrounding the pressures of becoming a commercially successful artist.

Photo 📸 Kim Bell

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October 22, 2018

Robert Rauschenberg (1963)

Detroit Institute Of Arts

Considered by many to be one of the most influential American artists due to his radical blending of materials and methods, Robert Rauschenberg was a crucial figure in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements. One of the key Neo-Dada movement artists, his experimental approach expanded the traditional boundaries of art, opening up avenues of exploration for future artists. Although Rauschenberg was the enfant terrible of the art world in the 1950s, he was deeply respected and admired by his predecessors. Despite this admiration, he disagreed with many of their convictions and literally erased their precedent to move forward into new aesthetic territory that reiterated the earlier Dada inquiry into the definition of art.

Photo courtesy of Kim Bell

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