xhibition catalogue in connection with the exhibition Basquiat - Headstrong featuring the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988). This is the first major exhibition to focus on Basquiat's depictions of the human head – a field that is central to his work.
Jean-Michel Basquiat managed to break through and out of the narrow confines of art history during his lifetime. After his death, at the age of only 27, Basquiat has become a global phenomenon and the mythology surrounding his life and work has only grown and today lives a life of its own in popular culture.
In the midst of Basquiat's expressive, almost explosive production, there is a group of works – drawings in oil pastels on paper, mainly from the period 1981-1983 – that revolve around the head as a motif. The works range from skulls and anatomical studies to highly stylized faces. The artist kept these works to himself, and they therefore remained largely unknown to the public during his lifetime. The fact that these works remained with the artist and only emerged after his death is a strong testament to the special significance they had for him. Therefore, they can rightly be considered traces that provide an intimate insight into his artistic process itself.
