That gaze which can recognize Basquiat only if he is in the company of Warhol or some other highly visible white figure. That gaze which can value Basquiat only if he can be seen as part of a continuum of contemporary American art with a genealogy traced through while males: Pollock, de Kooking, Rauschenberg, Twombly, and on to Andy. While it is obvious that Basquiat was influenced and inspired by the work of established white male artists, the content of his work does not neatly converge with theirs. Even when Basquiat can be placed stylistically in the exclusive white-male art club that denies entry to most black artists, his subject matter - his content - always separates him once again, and defamiliarizes him.
It is the content of Basquiat's work that serves as a barrier, challenging the Eurocentric gaize that commodifies, appropriates, and celebrates... Looking at the work from a Eurocentric perspective, one sees and values only those aspects that mimic familiar white Western artistic traditions. Looking at the work from a more inclusive standpoint, we are all better to see the dynamism springing from the convergence, contact, and conflict of varied traditions.
bell hooks
