Jean-Michel Basquiat: Guide to Symbols in Paintings

From his days working the streets of Manhattan creating graffiti in the late 1970s to his rise as a contemporary artist and tragic early death in 1988, Jean-Michel Basquiat offers a multitude of symbols and interpretations.Here we'll take you through twelve of the most important symbols and their meanings.

SAMO ©
SAMO started as a private joke ofBasquiat and his collaborator Al Diazand graffiti, however it became an important symbol in the later work of Basquiat. It means 'Same Old Shit'. In May 1978, Basquiat and Diaz began tagging Manhattan buildings with the SAMO tag, adding an ironic copyright sign to the motif. Later that year, the duo began using spray paint, attracting attention from the media and even fellow pop artist, Keith Haring. In 1980, having given up graffiti, Basquiat incorporated this symbol into his works.

THE CROWN
Synonym of the work of Basquiat, the crown has appeared in numerous examples of the artist's paintings, such as "Red Kings" (1981), "Tuxedo" (1983), "King Alphonso" (1982-3) and "Back Of The Neck" (1983).
Usually a central feature of any painting it appears in, there are many different theories about the symbol's meaning. This suggests that Basquiat called himself a 'king' of art? Is it an icon of your ambition to become world famous? Or is it a 'crown of thorns' referencing personal struggle? Nobody knows for sure.
Some think that the three points on the crown - which form a 'W' - are a reference to Andy Warhol , who was the de facto patron of Basquiat between 1983 and the artist's death in 1988.

THE GRIOT (BARD OR MINSTREL)
Depicted in works such as "Grillo" (1984), "Flexible" (1984) and "Gold Griot" (1984), the griot is a traditional West African musician, historian, musician and/or poet.An important part of the tradition in this area of the world, the griot as a symbol makes reference to the great interest of Basquiat for black history and culture, as well as their own heritage. Placing African cultural heritage at the center of his distinctively modern practice, the references of Basquiat to the griots can also be explained as a reflection on his own capacity as a dynamic storyteller, using painting as a means of reaching his audience.

THE SERPENT
The serpent - a cultural and religious icon found throughout the world - is a recurring feature of the effervescent paintings of Basquiat. Appears in St. Joe Louis Surrounded By Snakes (1982) and in the 1983 work Onion Gum. In the last painting, a figure stands on top of an angry-looking human head, holding two snakes in its hands. But what does it mean? Well, it's possible that the snakes are a reference to Japanese art, in which they often appear. In the upper right corner of the image, the phrase 'MADE IN JAPAN' is scrawled in capital letters.

ISHTAR
Created in 1983, Ishtar is a large-scale triptych rich with the kind of hieroglyphic symbolism for which Basquiat it was well known. In addition to being one of the most highly regarded works by Basquiat, the piece makes reference to Ishtar – the Egyptian goddess of war and mythology – whose name is written repeatedly in the central and right panels of the work. About the interest of Basquiat in Egyptian mythology, Ishtar also appears in the triptych "Untitled (History of the Black People)", also known as "The Nile" (1983) – a work that explicitly deals with slavery in colonial, American and Egyptian contexts.

THE WARRIOR
The 'Warrior' is another key symbol in Jean-Michel's work Basquiat. Appearing most clearly in the self-portrait "Warrior" (1982) - a work the artist described as one of his 'best paintings of all time' - it indicates the self-styled emergence of Basquiat as a messianic artist able to combine African, European and American art histories. In the warrior motif, many read references to Benin bronzes, Congolese statues, voodoo dolls, as well as Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning.

MASKS AND SKULLS
In what has been interpreted as a reference to his father's Haitian origins, masks and skulls are prominent in his work. Basquiat, appearing in early works such as "Untitled" (1981) — painted when the artist was just 20 years old. They signal voodoo rituals and memento mori – two prominent features of African-Caribbean and European culture and art history. In 2020, one of the head paintings of Basquiat – also titled "Untitled" (1982) – broke an auction record when it went up for auction at Sotheby's, becoming the work of Basquiat more expensive on paper.

THE HAMMER AND THE SICKLE
An icon first adopted during the Russian Revolution as a symbol of worker and peasant solidarity, the hammer and sickle has become synonymous with communist movements around the world. Appears in the work of Basquiat during 1982, with the diptych Hammer and Sickle (1982), and sketches Untitled (Sword And Sickle) (1982) and Untitled (Hammer And Sickle) (1982). Central to Cold War graphic iconography, the use of this political symbol by Basquiat references geopolitical events and the work of Andy Warhol, who in 1977 created his Hammer And Sickle series.

THE DINOSAUR
A motif reminiscent of childhood toys, the dinosaur appeared in "Snakeman" (1983), by Basquiat, as well as the world famous Pez Dispenser - a simple graphic work produced in 1984. Depicting a dinosaur crowned by the three-pointed crown of Basquiat, the meaning of Pez Dispenser is not clear. With the title of the work referencing a collectible object of American consumer culture – the candy dispenser Pez – some theorize that the dinosaur is part of the desire to Basquiat to produce “suggestive dichotomies”. In this case, it could be argued that it serves to alert viewers to the fatal nature of capitalism.

THE COSMOGRAM
In "Flesh And Spirit" (1982-3) - a monumental, altarpiece-like work named after Robert Farris Thompson's groundbreaking study of African religious tradition, "Flash of the Spirit" (1983) - Basquiat refers to the cosmogram. What is the cosmogram? An important religious symbol for the Kongo people of the Atlantic coast of Africa, it represents many different things, including the cycle of life and one's position within the cosmos, as well as the origin, destiny and projected future of humanity as a whole.

THREE VERTICAL LINES
This oblique symbol appears in the letters of Basquiat, over the 'E' characters with only three horizontal lines. A symbol worn by 'Hobos' - itinerant Americans who, by the millions, left their hometowns in search of food and lodging during the Depression era - speaks of a love of coded communication. According to Henry Dreyfuss's Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols (1984), three vertical lines mean: 'this is not a safe place'.

TEXT
Last but not least, the text is a central feature of the works of Basquiat. He appears in many works, from his series "Anatomy Studies to his well-known play, Hollywood Africans In Front Of The Chinese Theater With Footprints Of Movie Stars" (1983). Avoiding its typically descriptive function, in the artistic text of Basquiat it takes on poetic, symbolic, and indexical qualities. Enigmatic to say the least, the text is often employed as an almost baroque device designed to give works of art greater detail and decoration, and to “play” with meaning.