The African Soul That Powered Basquiat’s Art
Basquiat’s work carries the rhythm, memory, and spiritual codes of African heritage—alive in every line and layer.
In an interview with artist and curator Kemit, Dak’Art News explores how Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings reflect a deep cultural memory connected to African cosmology and sacred tradition. His use of masks, symbols, and fragmented text speaks to Yoruba spirituality, Nkisi figures, and the griot’s role as truth-keeper.
Kemit describes Basquiat’s approach as instinctive—each mark shaped by ancestral echoes and cultural continuity. The work holds space for complexity: joy, defiance, reverence, and power.
His canvas becomes ceremony—an unbroken thread between inheritance, identity, and imagination.