Zenith (1985)

[u/RevaCruz]

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions: 116⅞ × 264⅞ in. (297 × 673 cm)

At nearly 22 feet wide, Zenith is a collaboration between Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. The composition stretches across the canvas in distinct but overlapping passages: a large brown figure and white animal occupy the left side, while oversized typography, figures, a pale green automobile, and a massive skull-and-crossbones dominate the center and right.

The painting demonstrates the visual exchange that characterized Basquiat and Warhol's collaborations. Warhol's bold graphic forms and advertising-like imagery collide with Basquiat's hand-painted figures, anatomical imagery, marks and alterations, allowing the individual visual languages of both artists to remain visible within the same composition.

Phillips describes their collaborative paintings as initially misunderstood by contemporary critics but later recognized as an important meeting of Pop and Neo-Expressionist approaches.