Flexible 1984

Jean-Michel Basquiat made Flexible with paint on canvas, sometime in the 1980s. You see how he’s used the support? The wood grain showing through the paint gives it all this texture. It's like the image is built right into the surface. Look at the head, ringed in that screaming red, and then the body, just lines and slashes, like he's trying to capture something raw and urgent. The painting feels both frantic and totally in control. Take the mouth, all teeth, but then that little dab of red underneath - it brings the whole thing together. For me, Basquiat is channeling some of the same energy as Cy Twombly, but with a totally different vocabulary. It's like he's pulling images and ideas from everywhere, and throwing them all together on the canvas. It’s not about answers, it’s about asking questions and keeping the conversation going.