{"id":40710,"date":"2026-03-15T18:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/40710\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:58:16","slug":"in-denmark-you-can-discover-a-trove-of-basquiats-head-works-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/40710\/","title":{"rendered":"In Denmark, You Can Discover a Trove of Basquiat\u2019s Head Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cMosquito Coil,\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

At 7 years old, Jean-Michel Basquiat<\/a> endured a bad car accident<\/a>, ultimately leaving him hospitalized. While recovering, his mother gifted him a copy of Gray\u2019s Anatomy<\/a>, a comprehensive textbook spanning anatomical, surgical, and clinical topics. Thus began the artist\u2019s fascination with the human body, a subject that would prove essential to his work. There was, however, one specific aspect of the body that interested him more often than others: the head<\/a>. Now, the Louisiana Museum of Art<\/a> in Denmark offers a glimpse into Basquiat\u2019s explosive riot of figures, signs, and, above all, heads.<\/p>\n

Cleverly titled Headstrong<\/a>, the exhibition gathers nearly 50 works on paper devoted to the head, each created between 1981 and 1983. This period is often considered to be Basquiat\u2019s most prolific and experimental, seeing him return to the head with greater frequency. The vast majority of these head drawings, though, remained hidden during the artist\u2019s lifetime, despite centering around this recurring motif. Headstrong seeks to unveil not just the sheer prevalence but significance of these works, exploring how Basquiat treated the head, anatomy, and science as abstract symbols.<\/p>\n

In comparison to his monumental paintings and collages, Basquiat\u2019s head-related oeuvre seems more introspective, more intuitive, avoiding the viewer rather than inviting them in. Several compositions in Headstrong simply revolve around stark heads stripped of any extraneous information, suspended on blank canvases often devoid of the artist\u2019s signature imagery. Untitled (Head) from 1982, for instance, features a face rendered in red and blue, complete with an unsettling, almost wild grimace. Mosquito Coil, on the other hand, leans more into anatomical references, echoing red flesh and skeletal forms. It\u2019s as though we have gained x-ray vision, peering beneath the skin\u2019s surface and thus beyond artifice.<\/p>\n

Each drawing in Headstrong betrays Basquiat\u2019s preference for explosive, gestural linework, and strange, graphic figures. But it also reveals a new dimension to the artist\u2019s practice, one that\u2019s more psychological and immediate. These stylized faces lay everything bare, devoid of substance so as to function as a vessel for Basquiat\u2019s private emotions or thoughts. It should perhaps come as no surprise, then, that the drawings were virtually unknown to the public during the artist\u2019s life, considering they strayed from the visual language he typically used.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019re looking at a group of works that can completely confuse us\u2014they\u2019re 120% Basquiat\u2014but there is no writing, there is no \u2018famous negroes,\u2019 no Miles Davis, no symbols of corporations or stuff from history,\u201d Anders Kold, the exhibition\u2019s curator, remarked in an interview. \u201cI was interested in the way we have to make them out ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also evidence that Basquiat created these works on the floor, thanks to the presence of smudges, dirt, and footprints. This fact suggests a level of spontaneity and experimentation, providing insight into a lesser-known element of the artist\u2019s process. \u201cThere\u2019s a frenetic, ceaseless energy to the works,\u201d Kold added. \u201cI think they are interpretations that include him, but they could also be about\u2014and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was\u2014about the art world itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, Headstrong stands as the first solo presentation of Basquiat at a Scandinavian museum. It is also the first time that this group of drawings has been given standalone focus in an institutional context. In these ways, the exhibition is not simply unprecedented in its scope, but essential in understanding the full range of Basquiat\u2019s creative vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took what had been known as a portrait, but it became just about heads,\u201d artist Alvaro Barrington said in a recent interview with Artsy<\/a>. \u201cI think the heads were really about the world he was seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basquiat: Headstrong is currently on view at the Louisiana Museum of Art through May 17, 2026.\n<\/p>\n

At Denmark\u2019s Louisiana Museum of Art, visitors can explore a once-hidden treasure trove of Jean-Michel Basquiat\u2019s head drawings, unveiling a new dimension to his legendary practice.
\n\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled (Head),\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled,\u201d 1983. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled,\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled (1\/2 Black, 1\/2 White),\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled,\u201d 1982. (Photo: courtesy of Sotheby\u2019s, 2025)<\/p>\n

\"Installation\"Installation<\/p>\n

Installation view of \u201cBasquiat: Headstrong\u201d at the Louisiana Museum of Art in Denmark (Photo: Camilla Stephan)<\/p>\n

Aptly titled Basquiat: Headstrong, the exhibition gathers nearly 50 works on papers devoted to the head and will be on view through May 17, 2026.
\n\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled,\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled (Man with Hat),\u201d 1982. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled (Bust),\u201d 1984. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Art\"Art<\/p>\n

\u201cHead,\u201d 1982\u201383. (Photo: Colour Themes)<\/p>\n

\"Installation\"Installation<\/p>\n

Installation view of \u201cBasquiat: Headstrong\u201d at the Louisiana Museum of Art in Denmark (Photo: Camilla Stephan)<\/p>\n

\"Portrait\"Portrait<\/p>\n

Portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat at Crosby Street Studio, NY, 1983. (Photo: Roland Hagenberg)<\/p>\n

Exhibition Details:
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Headstrong
January 30\u2013May 17, 2026
Louisiana Museum of Art
Gl. Strandvej 13, 3050 Humleb\u00e6k, Denmark<\/p>\n

Louisiana Museum of Art: Website<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by the Louisiana Museum of Art.
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Basquiat\u2019s \u2018S\u00e1bado por la Noche (Saturday Night)\u2019 Sells for Over $14M at Christie\u2019s Auction<\/a><\/p>\n

Basquiat\u2019s Sisters Create Intimate Look at the Artist\u2019s Life in Groundbreaking Exhibition<\/a><\/p>\n