Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) arose in the early 1980s as a significant figure in the Neo-Expressionist movement. His artistic process was deeply influenced by his personal experiences, cultural heritage and the social issues of his time. Drawing inspiration from his Haitian and Puerto Rican roots, as well as the gritty energy of New York City’s urban landscape, Basquiat created raw, expressive works that combined text, symbols and layered imagery. His process was organic, beginning with spontaneous sketches and evolving through dynamic layering techniques that conveyed complex narratives about race, identity and power.
His visual language was marked by a vibrant palette, fragmented anatomy and a deeply integrated narrative, making his work intellectually engaging. In many of Basquiat’s robust, explosive and vividly colourful drawings, it can be challenging to know where to look. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, is focusing the audience’s gaze on drawings he made between 1981 and 1983 that depict the human head (30 January–17 May 2026).
Basquiat’s Headstrong is the first solo presentation of the artist at a museum in Scandinavia. The exhibition brings together 50 works, 49 drawings and one painting, made primarily between 1981 and 1983, the years that fundamentally shaped Basquiat as an artist. Remarkably, these heads were not shown during his lifetime.
Unlike traditional portraiture, he tackled the head as a site of convolution, showcasing the visible self and his own circumscribed experiences. These intimate head drawings are highly introspective and one could describe them as conveying intense mental agitation. There are no historical references, cultural citations or texts, elements that are frequent in Basquiat’s work. His heads often emerge as fragmentary, pulsating between form and suspension. This volatility mirrors the social realities he confronted, along with so many others, in regard to race, fame and impermanence. These works on paper feel like self-reflection for all those willing to contemplate their own mortality.
Basquiat’s faces seem to be transitioning between two places or experiences, where deep emotional strain and raw human vulnerability are evident.
Many of the drawings look as if they were made on his studio floor. There are smears, stains and marks, along with his use of oilsticks. Basquiat pushed the boundaries of oilstick as a medium, using it not just for its pigment but for its capacity to communicate and portray raw emotion and freedom.
The heads are typically centred on the page, and the line is seemingly poised and confident. These pieces come across as Basquiat’s personal and very private diary. They are visceral, standalone artworks marked by aggressive linework, anatomical studies and sociopolitical critiques. Each drawing is remarkably different. They are brimming with fury and energy, tempered by the extraordinary control he exercised in their execution. They reflect the frenetic creativity that characterised New York City in the 1980s and are an enduring testament to the passionate spirit of Basquiat’s phenomenal painterly mark.
Basquiat – Headstrong was showcased at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
