Pre-Agrav 1984

Basquiat’s ‘Pre-Agrav’ is a painting made with oil stick and paint. It’s got this great raw energy, right? I can just imagine Basquiat working on this, attacking the canvas with these bold strokes of red, yellow, brown, and black. I'm thinking about him trying to get something out of his head and onto the canvas, not holding back, just letting it flow. The paint is laid on thick in some places, really built up, while other areas are more bare, almost like he’s scratching into the surface. I’m drawn to that yellow line looping around the figure’s head. It's almost like it's trying to contain the energy of the painting, but it can't, you know? It’s like the painting is too alive to be held down. Basquiat reminds me of Cy Twombly in some ways – the rawness, the immediacy, but he brings his own streetwise sensibility to it all. All these painters are talking to each other, riffing off each other's ideas. Painting at its best is like a conversation.