Episode #13: Basquait and Rockwell

Comparing works, overcoming blindspots, seeking consensus on Basquait and Rockwell

Visit our website to see the artwork we discuss this episode

SHOW NOTES

 - 00:05 - Christopher is back

 - 00:20 - Never say never about Basquiat

 - 00:48 - It's easy to enable James' bad ideas

 - 01:00 - "Art Off Octagon": Basquiat v Rockwell

 - 01:25 - Catherine loosely introduces Basquiat

 - 01:48 - James seriously describes Rockwell

 - 02:30 - Comparing works, overcoming blindspots, seeking consensus

 - 02:49 - Catherine gets roasted for her first impression of Rockwell's "Glen Canyon Dam" as Cowboy Art!

 - 03:50 - Basquiat's "Beef Ribs Longhorn" actually reads as "cowboy"!

 - 04:41 - Catherine chose specific Basquiat works as foils to James' Rockwell selections

 - 06:48 - Catherine agrees with James' critique, and admits to tuning out anything remotely reminiscent of Cowboy Art

 - 08:10 - Did Rockwell "punk" the Department of Interior with this commissioned piece?

 - 08:40 - Christopher dissects the political undertones of the piece

 - 09:10 - Delving deeper into the paintings negative images and birds of prey

 - 11:12 - Criteria 1: First Impression

 - 11:39 - Criteria 2: Evoke feeling

 - 12:02 - Criteria 3: Use of medium

 - 12:23 - Criteria 4: Representative of time period in which it was created

 - 12:30 - Nobody likes the birds! (Except James, but no one listens to him)

 - 13:20 - Criteria 5: Would you hang this on your wall?

 - 13:45 - Catherine describes Basquiat's "Beef Ribs Longhorn", not rib-eye

 - 15:40 - The words in piece imply "doom"

 - 16:13 - Deconstructing 1980's aliens, butcher shops and the words

 - 17:17 - The cow is sad

 - 18:54 - Catherine sees different themes, James sees no poetic narrative

 - 19:50 - Christopher described how these two works are similar

 - 21:17 - James remains unconvinced

 - 21:23 - Lack of framing evokes rawness

 - 22:15 - The survey says, Catherine and Christopher would hang it on their wall

 - 25:32 - James steps away, Christopher and Catherine decide that continuing this exercise will yield similar results

 - 25:47 - Is comparison fair or necessary?

 - 27:30 - The conclusions remain the same

 - 28:08 - Basquiat's "raw punch" vs Rockwell's focus on detail

 - 28:30 - Basquiat's "Untitled 1982" vs Rockwell's " The Connoisseur"

 - 28:37 - How would Basquiat have evolved?

 - 30:02- "The Connoisseur" is and is not a Jackson Pollock

 - 32:57 - One more. James passionately describes Rockwell's "Lost In Paris" as a "10"

 - 35:50 - Complex emotion vs raw emotion

 - 36:26 - Rockwell's "New Kids In The Neighborhood"

 - 39:40 - Rockwell exits The Octagon

 - 40:20 - Any Basquiat for Catherine's wall

 - 40:59 - "What could have been" with Basquiat?

 - 42:10 - A trio of art nerds