The Zombiefication of Basquiat 

wow its really sad that despite his posthumous success and acknowledgment of his art, his experiences of the message and interpretation being devalued and centered around his name/identity also continues to live on in a way. it’s definitely hard to say whether we’re paying tribute by supporting these collaborations or if we’re confirming his fears 🤧

Holy shit bruh, this was a brilliant analysis. I’m Haitian so the parallels you drawed between his current exploitation and zombies is genius. Good shit bruh

Jean-Michel's legacy was more protected and not uber commercialized when his father controlled the estate. After he passed, all hell broke loose with the Merch Machine (c) when his sisters took over. We will reach peak merch absurdity when we see Basquiat condoms with the image of the note on his studio door, "OUT GETTING RIBS." Good job with this analysis and the inclusion of bell hook's take on his art.

Though he rose to fame during the 80's artworld where rapacious capitalism was equally on the ascent, the Basquiat estate needs to reign it in and pull back on collaborations in order to protect the legacy of JMB. Scarcity increases value, not overexposure!

I got so upset when I saw the Basquiat estate partnering with a LIQUOR BRAND. The man suffered and ultimately died due to his issues with addiction. insanely tone deaf. The King Pleasure exhibit also washed down his personal history outside of the family, totally ignored his biological mother, and the fact that he ran away from home.

Such a great analysis and perspective on how Basquiat's work has been decontextualized as a result of rabid consumerism and post mortem fascination. Happens too often with some of the most revolutionary artists after they have passed, especially those who are fetishized or used by corporations for an identity that they were ostracized for when living. In our appreciation of the work, it's only natural to want to surround yourself with the artist, and the art market is so obsessed with "selfie" culture to where museums and retrospectives will go as far to project Da Vinci art on walls as a way to "feel close to the artist," but also have something for your insta feed. Buying the artists clothes/work made by their estate can feel like a way to show appreciation, and signal that to the world, but I wonder what the artists would feel about their work being commodified, aside from the fact that the sale of their work and licensing of it supports their immediate and future family. I imagine half of the people who have Basquiat's work in their homes, or tattooed on their bodies aren't *completely* familiar with him. I mean I have a Keith Haring shirt, but I can't cite his birthday or the day he passed from memory. I wonder how much of this work embodies the artist, or like you said, create's this gross, commercial zombie because the concept of "death" is so difficult to accept. Love this analysis, great great work. 🤗

my guess is he expected it but wouldn't appreciate it. that's what samo meant- same old, same old. as for the zombie connection, the coffin-shaped grids, sometimes with letters in the boxes, that basquiat used in works like 'robot man' resemble the 8 hour graves a bokor would paint on the ground. in 'robot man' specifically, i believe basquiat purposefully made the zombie reference, considering the words 'intestines', 'hueso', and 'sin hueso' . . . after all, 1980s robots (or, in our era, AI bots) are zombie slaves of a sort, soulless imitations of human workers conjured by capitalists that disenfranchise, disillusion, and impoverish real people. historical interpretations of basquiat's work often (in my view mistakenly) reduce his depictions of people, especially those with labeled characteristics, to a preoccupation with human anatomy. i think, especially when coupled with grid motifs, it's actually an exploration of the involuntary reanimations and reinventions we undergo due to social and economic pressures . . . and the cultural missing link those art historians/critics lack, which you've so brilliantly pointed out, is the haiti-zombi-vodou knowledge. it's not a coincidence that one of the dominant companies specializing in these collabs between the estates of dead artists and third-world-borderline-slave-labor junk manufacturers like h&m is Rome Pays Off- named after the basquiat work of the same name that very directly ties haitian zombification to capitalist exploitation and imperialism. the owners of that company (the proud makers of the "Basquiat Beat Bop crown knit beanie"!), are guessing no one buying this stuff will actually look at the print, understand why he made it as a lithograph in multiples rather than selling it as a single painting, or understand what 'salt' means to a haitian zombi. 'salt', imo, is basquiat's message to us from beyond the grave: return to your senses, restore your personality, attack the bokor who created you, or go home to die. anyhoo, this is the first time your channel was suggested to me and i really enjoyed this video.

It's the comodification of original creativity. It's sinister and shallow.

Seriously the bell hooks analysis is insane. Loved the way you tied it into the haitian zombie concept. Great video, salutations from Brazil!

I loved the exhibit from his family. But I've hated the random collabs and the bastardization of so much of his work!!! It sucks bc I also love all the merch, but I catch myself thinking about how he would not be down for his work being used this way. It's so weird to try to assume what he would have supported

i agree and i’m a hypocrite too! i was in primark a few months ago and bought a Basquiat tote bag. after i got home i thought to myself “this is…… kinda weird” and now it just sits in my house 😖

Totally agree with you, his work is very powerfull for it to be in a dumb marketing but in the type of consumist and social media world we live in right now, it is perhaps a way to keep on sending the power of his message and not letting it be forgotten

Praying this gets the views and support it needs !

This is life and death capitalism style, a lively forest burn and reborn cycle. The artist creates with meaning, the meaning is grappled with, sometimes catches hold in the culture, it's observed disseminated and then loses its meaning and becomes a lifeless and colorless sea shell bleached by the sun, until it's smashed into pieces and becomes grains of sand and eventually fades to dust. It's sad to notice, but what else can be done? We all disappear some day even artists and their art. Sometimes the visual stays without the meaning and sometimes the idea stays (though less obviously observable)

This is so amazing and insightful!!

I can’t even look at his work anymore. People have played him out.

i learned something, thanks! that bell hooks book is on my list now

thank you for this///RIP SAMO

This is such a great take and perspective! As a Basquiat fan you are so right B

Amazing video! I had to share this with one of my friends who’s a big Basquiat fan. LOVE the connection to bell hooks and the Haitian culture. Tbh I always looked as Basquiat as an artistic genius but maybe not the activist some fans wanted him to be. He critiqued white society but his day to day experience was surrounded by them in his professional AND personal life . Self exploitation through my work is something I think often about especially as a “Black Artist” that wants to honor my culture. The commodification question is one that we can never escape but I don’t feel like that “real art is ALWAYS anti-capitalistic” mentality is necessarily correct either in a capitalistic society because it leads us as artists to be stuck in financially precarious situations just to prove that we’re “pure artists” instead of being empowered to realize the value of our labor.

Subscribed. Love your channel, love your style and expression and realness. Thanks for bein you

Spot on. As a fellow black artist who’s also inspired by his work it feels like a double edged sword. I love seeing his work be praised and accepted it’s nice but to know that him and his art deserved better treatment when he was actually alive makes it feel bitter. The fact that he is not actually benefiting financially from this and that this does nothing to make his art be more respected in the “art world” but could actually serve to hurt his image as it becomes commercialized also sucks but then again it is good that his family gets some payment from all this so really it’s hard to know what’s best

my fav video this week

Frankly I think money and art is gross combination and always has been, that's why I don't really publish my own work. You really hit me with that part about how he wasn't accepted so he couldn't really express all of himself, I feel the same way with my work for similar-but-different reasons. Thank you for your work, this is an awesome video, made me think for sure.

great video man, the music in the background is fanstastic

Spot on

#WeKnowTheTruth

Basquiat’s Art is turning into mush.

I think this is spot on. Would love to do a response video giving you credit of course supporting your position if that’s ok with you.

My opinion there R thousands of basquiats . He was eccentric. He was in the right place and time. His trajectory was a interesting coincidence. Was he being used? Or not. Was it luck .? Was he exploited? Or did he exploit.. its all good either way i appreciate his accomplishment. And his art tho i dont see the glorifying of it..he worked hard at it..salute to basquiat.

LOL same shit happened to Monet, chocolate boxes , tote bags, pencil cases coffee mugs etc... etc..

Everything in this world is commodified to the point of total saturation. Drill baby drill!

Not a hot take at all, you're spot on. Slightly different, but at art school there was this other white kid who copied Basquiat's style and symbolism and presented it as his own. His big piece was his studio, he literally made his space his studio and it honestly looked like some Basquiat forgery exhibit. At the time I thought maybe it was ironic because it was so brazen, but it definitely wasn't, and it really rubs me up the wrong way but no one said anything, and there were no black students in our class. Watching your video, the zombification, and hearing Bell Hooks analysis made me remember it and it made remembering the whole thing a much darker and way grosser feeling.

truly poignant critique. very thought provoking.

Cool video and cool style. Only critique would be some better audio quality when you can. Subscribed

funny even 30 years after his death he is being exploited as much as he was while alive... and dropping a line on juneteenth is also pretty evil, kinda weird too given that the audience this stuff is being sold to,. "hey yall here are some sweatshop grade clothes w some cool Basquiat designs on them, with absolutely no thought or love put into any of it, and we know how much you all love marching for the non exploitation of your people, so we thought we would release these terribly ugly clothes marked up 1000% on that one day yall go nuts about, yea.... thanks :)

what charlie parker song is this ?

Hey. I liked your video a lot, keep it up please! made me laugh relate and learn something new . appreciate your critique.

commodification has ruined his work for now and was inevitable but he will shine again in a few decades and over the centuries to come.

It's gross. It's one thing when the artist makes the choice to commodify their art, but when the "estate" makes that choice I always get the feeling like it makes the artist spin in their grave. Basquiat's art is magical, but it's slowly being degraded to trash by the brands his estate is selling his work to.

Well, he would have done it eventually if he was still alive. Andy Warhol and Keith Haring certainly did. Why not? It’s business. I mean it’s art. But it’s ALSO business.

i knew his stuff like k.haring since my childhood and this with : being white, living in Germany and my city was not that big while grown up doing graffiti as a kid... So burn ya books and check what's goin in da streets -cause: knowing bout him and his influence since 2017 & now dissing those who put him in a song... 4real!? So, He's now only yours, collecting him on Mass-produced Fashion- maybe friends of him and Futura from that time you don't even lived- and 4 sure never will understand... go find yourself before talking bout crown material!

Ur jacket gay asf

you are literally part of the problem. sad.