I tried to find a picture of it online but nothing came up. Here’s what I have to say about that particular painting:
Why in the world is this called art? This is something I could find in a bathroom stall. Anyone can do it. It’s mainly scribbles and poor tagging. They say he was somewhat of a “middle class rebel”, sick of society, sick of the brain dead 9-5 workers, and started this so called art paintings and made thousands of dollars, then fell into drug addiction; overdosed and died.. How in the world is that worth admiring. If he was so sick of society why didn’t he do something to help society? Why didn’t he do anything to make it better? He could have invested his money in that. But noo. he chose to rip of the rich people and have everyone feel sorry for himself. That’s a pile of shit dude.
I’m sick of society but you don’t see me trying to sell crappy paintings (and I could definitely do that and my paintings are no where near crappy) nor do you see me falling into drug addiction to try to escape from society. You weren’t iconic nor special. You were a coward. An unfortunate coward who couldn’t see beyond your spray paint, couldn’t see that there are millions out there just like you. Your art didn’t make a difference. You didn’t make a difference. You grew up hoping to make a difference, but you lived for nothing and you died for nothing and I would have never known about you if it wasn’t for my English teacher thinking taking us to an art gallery would make a difference in someone’s life.
This tedious experience only confirmed the fact that you can not change anything by hope alone, you have to do something about it. You have to act and unless your art can overthrow the government, go for something more beneficial. But if you like art, that’s good! I like art too. I love it. But I don’t resort to it when I want to change something. Doesn’t work. Well it might. But this sort of art is a waste of time. Well maybe not a waste of time if you enjoy it but you get the point. or you might not get the point. either way this particular piece was a waste of time…or maybe it wasn’t because I got to write something other than hoping to dig a grave and disappear. ha so maybe it wasn’t a waste of time. but it sure is shitty “art”.
First of all, many people express themselves through a variety of avenues. Harlem’s African-Americans during the 20s and 30s expressed their discontent with an oppressive regime and sought to change the world as they saw fit in their poems, sculpture, literature, and artwork. Slaves sang songs known as “Negro Spirituals” that protested the chattel system. Hell, John Lennon was a social critic; so was Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Tupac Shakur. Just because an individual, namely an artist, expresses their discontent in a medium you can’t understand, doesn’t mean its not worth appreciating. The goal of art and imagery to encourage one to think outside the confines of his/her own sense of reality. You have to really take into consideration the artists’ background, mental stability (or instability in van Gogh’s case), their values, struggles, likes and dislikes when offering a critical analysis of art. Do you understand any of the underlying messages behind Charles the 1st? Have you tried to understand the artists’ perspective, his logic? If not, then I feel you don’t have grounds to speak on whether you value it as a work of art of not. People tend to discredit what they don’t understand; hence, Socrates or even a Basquiat, Warhol even. I guess my point is, try to understand the piece from a conceptual standpoint before you place judgement. You still may not like it, but at least appreciate the artists’ intent to convey a message. Many artists and musicians express themselves through their work because they feel they have no other forum to voice their opinions. Many feel like many of us feel in regards to social concerns, voiceless and powerless. Learn to think, listen, observe, and understand before you judge. I think the message behind Charles the 1st is inspirational, and so does Jay-Z. Youtube his song titled, “Most Kingz” and google the lyrics as well. It’s a musical rendition of the painting itself. Here, read my post I wrote about both:
http://empoweringyoungbrothas.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/most-kingz-get-their-heads-cut-off-basquiat-jay-z-julius-caesar-and-ed-leadership/