'9-TO-5, WENT TO COLLEGE, NOT 2-NITE HOMEY BLUES': Jazz and the American mundane in Jean-Michel Basquiat's writing. (12th October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Donoghue Oddy, Ellen
• Is Part Of: Jazz research journal. Volume 13:Number 1/2(2020)
• Page Start: 19
• Page End: 32
• Publication Date: 2019-10-12
• Subjects: beat literature -- bebop -- charlie parker -- jean-michel basquiat -- jazz music; Jazz -- Periodicals; Jazz -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Jazz musicians -- Periodicals; 781.6505
• DOI: 10.1558/jazz.37810
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1753-8637

Abstract

Abstract : This article looks at the influence of jazz music-specifically bebop-in Jean-MichelBasquiat's use of the written word, arguing that the artist incorporates improvisationand dynamic rhythms to build a fragmentary stream of the everyday across his canvas.Looking towards Basquiat's graffiti, paintings and notebooks, this article will read Basquiat'sworks as jazz texts that rewrite the everyday, protest against social barriers, andreveal beauty in the mundane. This article will contextualize the musical and literary influencesreferenced across Basquiat's work, as well as the techniques he took from suchinfluencers and used on the canvas. By positioning Basquiat within a literary canon, this article will also consider how the multi-formality of jazz enabled Basquiat to createworks that were literary, musical, and painterly at once.