Flexible 1984

Jean-Michel Basquiat made this painting, Flexible, on what looks like a found wooden surface, maybe salvaged from the streets. The colours are vivid and brash: reds, greens, yellows and blacks all jostling for attention. I can imagine Basquiat, brush in hand, moving around the surface, almost like a dance, building up the image layer by layer. Look at the figure he’s created. It’s raw, like he’s laid bare the insides, the organs floating within an outlined form. There's a beautiful clumsiness to the lines, like a child's drawing, yet it's imbued with so much emotion. See how the red outline around the head seems to vibrate, pulsating with energy. It's a gesture that speaks volumes, a primal scream rendered in paint. Basquiat was in conversation with other artists such as Twombly and de Kooning, all pushing the boundaries of what painting could be. Like them, Basquiat shows us that painting is more than just representation; it’s about feeling, thinking, and experiencing the world in all its messy complexity.