Basquiat’s Visual Vocabulary: Symbols That Cut Through Noise

Basquiat didn’t explain his work—he encrypted it. Each line, word, and shape functioned like a cipher for deeper cultural truths.

In Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art, symbols weren’t aesthetic flourishes—they were tools of urgency. This article explores how Basquiat built a coded visual vocabulary to process identity, memory, and history. His use of repeated imagery—like skulls, bones, halos, and fragmented text—mapped not just the human body, but the architecture of power and oppression.

Skulls often appeared X-ray-like, merging medical references with personal introspection. Halos hovered over icons and martyrs, elevating overlooked Black figures into sainthood. His dense use of text—sometimes legible, often crossed out—created a rhythm of visibility and erasure, reflecting how Black narratives are edited or omitted entirely from dominant culture.

Rather than offering answers, Basquiat filled his canvases with questions. His work demanded that viewers engage, decode, and confront what they might otherwise overlook.

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Artwork: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Six Crimee, 1982.