Jean-Michel Basquiat | Untitled (Football Helmet)
Untitled (Football Helmet)
c. 1981-84
Acrylic and human hair on football helmet
9 x 8 x 13 inches (22.9 x 20.3 x 33 cm)
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Photo: Elisabeth Bernstein
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s performative found-object assemblage Untitled (Football Helmet) (c. 1981 –1984) plays with the stereotype of African American men’s athletic prowess, while simultaneously pointing to their vulnerable position in society. The work is a poignant testament to the artist’s ability to break through barriers even as he exposed his own fragility.