'Horn Players' by Jean-Michel Basquiat (after), 2018
Limited Edition Triptych Skateboard deck set collab. with The Skateroom.
Based on Basquiat's original 'Horn Players' 3-panel artwork from 1983 - a tribute to jazz legends Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Officially licensed by the Jean-Michel Basquiat Foundation x Artestar, New York.
8 x 31.75 Inches each.
Screen print on (3x) 7 ply Grade-A Canadian Maple skate deck.
Limited Edition series (Sold Out).
Top-print includes printed signature of the artist.
New in shrink wrap with Sk8 of the Art COA.

*Note: Skate Deck wall hangers sold separately.

ABOUT THE ART

Produced by the Skateroom in collaboration with the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, this set of three screenprinted skateboard decks features Basquiat’s painting 'Horn Players' (1983). The triptych was first exhibited in March 1983 at Larry Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles and is now in the collection of The Broad in Los Angeles.

Fusing drawing, painting, and text in acrylic and oil stick, 'Horn Players' pulses with the improvisational energy and complex harmonies of bebop. The format of the three decks reproduces the three-panel composition of Basquiat’s painted tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker (left) and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (right).

Repeated, crossed-out, and painted-over words add a linguistic dimension to the portraits, naming Parker’s “Ornithology” (1946) and EAR, SOAP, FEET, TEETH, and ALCHEMY, among other personal and musical references. An avid musician himself, Basquiat often paid homage to jazz musicians, with Parker and Gillespie among his most frequent subjects.