Hollywood Africans, 1983

In his painting, ‘Hollywood Africans’, New York-based artist Jean-Michel Basquiat depicts himself, alongside fellow experimental artist-musician Rammellzee and graffiti artist Toxic, both emerging figures in the underground music scene. Music was a powerful source of inspiration for Basquiat and the trio collaborated to produce the single ‘Beat Bop’ (1983). This was in the midst of the rise of hip-hop as a new movement and an increasingly powerful force in the 1980s.

The work is a powerful, unapologetic and striking depiction of the trio, the intensity of colour and high contrast of the electric blue on yellow, as well as the expressionist, trademark, gestural use of paint gives it what critic Skye Sherwin describes as a ‘raw energy’. Text dominates the canvas in the artist’s distinctive writing and particularly pertinent and shocking are the words ‘paw paw’ branded across the artist’s hand. As Sherwin notes, this references the ‘obscene view’ of black people as animals. ‘

Basquiat uses his work to critique the stereotyping and marginalisation of black artists across the arts industries. Many of the artists and musicians he admired and referenced in his work had suffered ‘extreme racial prejudice’ during their lifetimes; the title of this painting references the ‘inescapable racism’ in the film industry. Phrases such as ‘gangsterism’, ‘sugar cane’, and ‘tobacco’ allude to the lack of roles and opportunities for black actors.