{"product_id":"television-and-cruelty-to-animals-jean-michel-basquiat","title":"Television and Cruelty to Animals - Jean-Michel Basquiat","description":"\u003cp\u003eA 1983 Neo-Expressionist work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, featuring a dense arrangement of text, symbols, and gestural figures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTelevision and Cruelty to Animals (1983) is a representative example of Jean-Michel Basquiat's approach to painting. The work functions as a dense visual field, combining text, symbols, and figurative elements that reflect the artist's engagement with urban culture and media. Basquiat employs a raw, immediate application of paint and oilstick, creating a surface that mimics the aesthetic of graffiti and street signage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe composition is populated by recurring motifs: a stylised bat figure, an eight-ball, and a moose head. These elements are interspersed with handwritten phrases and numbers, such as 'Masonic Lodge No. 43' and 'Popeye versus the Nazis'. The inclusion of crossed-out text is a consistent feature in Basquiat's practice, which he noted was a method to draw attention to the words themselves. The palette is limited, relying on primary colours against a neutral ground, which allows the aggressive, gestural lines to dominate the visual experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBasquiat's work often synthesises disparate cultural references, from popular cartoons to historical and political symbols. In this piece, the juxtaposition of these icons creates a fragmented narrative. The viewer is presented with a series of signs that resist a singular interpretation. The work reflects the artist's interest in the power of language and the way information is consumed and discarded in contemporary society. By placing these symbols in a non-hierarchical arrangement, Basquiat forces a confrontation between the viewer and the chaotic nature of the information age. The physical presence of the canvas, often mounted with exposed wooden supports, reinforces the object-like quality of his paintings, moving them away from traditional fine art presentation toward a more visceral, immediate form of expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"margin-top:2rem;padding-top:1.5rem;border-top:1px solid #e5e5e5;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"font-size:0.85rem;color:#888;font-weight:600;margin:0 0 0.75rem;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.05em;\"\u003eYou might also like\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:0.5rem;\"\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/de\/products\/dialogue-with-the-youth-of-today-detail-martin-kippenberger\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f8f9fa;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:20px;padding:0.35rem 0.85rem;font-size:0.8rem;color:#2a555a;font-weight:500;text-decoration:none !important;background-image:none !important;\"\u003eDialogue with the Youth of Today (detail) - Martin Kippenberger — Martin Kippenberger\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/de\/products\/wood-variation-ii-per-kirkeby\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f8f9fa;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:20px;padding:0.35rem 0.85rem;font-size:0.8rem;color:#2a555a;font-weight:500;text-decoration:none !important;background-image:none !important;\"\u003eWood-Variation II - Per Kirkeby — Per Kirkeby\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Jean-Michel Basquiat","offers":[{"title":"Fine Art Poster \/ Small Square (30x30 cm) \/ -","offer_id":58849189658959,"sku":null,"price":37.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Fine Art Poster \/ Medium Square (40x40 cm) \/ -","offer_id":58849256669519,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Fine Art Poster \/ Large Square (50x50 cm) \/ -","offer_id":58849256702287,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0833\/9292\/1935\/files\/Television-and-Cruelty-to-Animals_Poster_CompositorV1_1790075042473.jpg?v=1790076029","url":"https:\/\/www.solisprints.co.uk\/de\/products\/television-and-cruelty-to-animals-jean-michel-basquiat","provider":"Solis Prints","version":"1.0","type":"link"}