Slow Dancing With The Devil

The commission request to create a Basquiat inspired diptych featuring J Cole lyrics. I wanted to honour Basquiat and show I was inspired by his abstract, multi-dimensional work instead of trying to copy it. His influence can be seen through the attention on dissecting human anatomy, using solid colour in some shapes while outlining others, dotted lines, texture and most importantly - layers.

There are so many layers to this (haha) and it took a couple of weeks to get it right, each layer teaching me something new. For example, the brown background is actually comprised of 5 different brown layers (visible if you look closely at the edges and corners of the canvases). To tie in my own interpretation, I used pastel colours, my stylized faces (see cheekbones) and the famous “tear”.

The most gratifying part about creating this diptych was building personality on each layer and researching Basquiat’s work. Also, my favourite aspect of the paintings are how they complete each other when placed side by side while they can also stand powerfully on their own.

If you look closely, there are tiny stick-men drawn in orange crayon climbing all around the paintings (how many can you count?). If you continue analyzing, you’ll see that there are partially hidden words in the background… they’re lyrics from J Cole’s song “Miss America”. The client’s request was to include two passages (in white) from Cole’s song about not falling victim to capitalism and the culture of materialism. However I wanted the artwork to carry the message further than the two obvious passages and chose to incorporate them in the back, partially concealed (like some truths). I hope Basquiat would be proud of these multi-dimensional layers! I sure am!

(Slow Dancing With The Devil, Honey, Mixed Media on two 30 x 40 canvases, 2020).