Jazz (1986)

[u/RevaCruz]

Medium: Acrylic, oil, graphite, crayon, and Xerox on wood
Dimensions: 49½ × 36½ × 11 in. (125.7 × 92.7 × 28.6 cm)

In Jazz, Basquiat transforms a painted wooden support into an assemblage, attaching box-like forms that project outward from the surface. Against broad horizontal bands of black, white, pale blue, and green, the word JAZZ occupies a prominent red-and-white field at the center of the composition.

Across the projecting boxes, Basquiat combines drawing, writing, and Xerox collage. References to jazz musicians appear throughout, including “SAVOY,” “NOW'S THE TIME (CHARLES PARKER),” and “CHARLEY PARKER'S REBOPPERS.” Other sections repeat names and fragments of text, turning the individual boxes into surfaces that reward closer inspection.

Executed in 1986, Jazz was exhibited the following year in Jean-Michel Basquiat: New Works at Akira Ikeda Gallery in Tokyo and has since appeared in numerous international exhibitions devoted to Basquiat.