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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Language

Abstract

dc:description

Previous analyses of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960--88) tend to focus on decoding these drawings and paintings, while almost completely ignoring those elements that cannot be tied to a specific (and static) iconography or historical lineage of influence. Yet, the iconographic isolation of specific symbols and icons considers neither how the visal and verbal signs within these works constitute meaning nor what they may reveal about Basquiat's own artistic concerns. For this body of work, it is not enough to decode signs and symbols; we must also try to discern meaning in their interactions and in the artist's protocols of construction. Following the title of this dissertation, I approach Basquiat's work as a complete (and partially unknown) language that must be considered on its own terms.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph.D.
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Art History
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2014

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Saggese, Jordana Moore
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Fineberg, Jonathan

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
(UMI)AAI3337912
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72580

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Saggese, Jordana Moore. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Language. Dissertation thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72580