Untitled (Page 90) and Untitled ( |GLASS | NOSE), 1986, by Basquiat are two pages of Harry’s ABC  linked by a related subject, the image of a hatted figure eating a banana on page 90 that is compositionally related to Basquiat’s vivid painting of the same title, Glass Nose, 1987, and the text “GLASS   NOSE ” drawn on page 91.    These works seem to refer to the Russian political policy, Glasnost, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986, with the work on page 90 possibly including letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.  Basquiat’s drawing of the atomic symbol on this page adds to the heightened awareness of Cold War politics and the dangers thereof, when the threat of nuclear war led to a sense of national urgency. 

Additionally, page 91 features a series of editing symbols including the now ubiquitous @ - a symbol that is an absolute requirement for contemporary communication via email.  It is yet another example of Basquiat’s prescience when it came to the future of a digital age. Basquiat’s use of international signs reflects his interest in Henry Dreyfuss, Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, which was published for the first time in 1984. 

In 1985, Photographer Tseng Kwong Chi (1950-1990) photographed Basquiat and Andy Warhol with paintings from their collaboration series, capturing a dynamic moment in downtown history.   Two years later, he photographed Basquiat at his Great Jones Street studio in a series that features the artist with his materials, works from his collection of African art, and posed amidst painted canvases.   At the back right of his studio one sees a midsize canvas painted bright yellow with a single line of editorial symbols, almost identical to the one depicted here.   

Janis Gardner Cecil