Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Notebooks

This carefully reproduced facsimile edition of renowned visual artist Basquiat’s eight notebooks provides us a glimpse into the mind of a visionary artist. On nearly every page, readers will ponder over why and how Basquiat chose to string together these specific word marks and often bizarre phrases. The notebooks function as a sort of incubator for Basquiat’s artistic process as well as a finished product in their own right. The artist’s focus on enigmatic aphorisms and poems calls to mind his career as a graffiti artist in New York. Some of Basquiat’s famous visual motifs, such as the crown, do show up in his notebooks. Editor Warsh, who acquired the notebooks in the late 1980s, provides clear context for the significance of the notebooks in his short introduction. Basquiat used them to grapple with the world around him. From street signs to advertisements, he took in the visual cues of the city and filters them back through his pen. Some pages of the notebooks are filled with verses while others contain a single word or phrase. Other pages seem not so much written as designed. These intriguing notebooks are a vital part of Basquiat’s legacy and an invaluable window into his ingenious and whimsical mind. (June)