The artwork, titled “Formless,” was created by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. It employs a diverse range of mediums including acrylic, charcoal, crayon, pastel, and pencil. Belonging to the Neo-Expressionism and Street art movements, the piece is categorized as figurative in genre. It forms part of “The Daros Suite of Thirty-Two Drawings” and is housed in the Daros Collection in Zürich, Switzerland. The dimensions of the artwork are 57 x 76.5 cm.
The artwork features a raw and minimalistic composition that exemplifies Basquiat’s characteristic style. On a lightly textured background, the focal point is a roughly drawn circle filled with an array of intersecting lines in red, yellow, and blue. Beneath this sketch is a rectangular box containing the handwritten text “BIRTH OF EARTH ©” in thick black lines. The seemingly haphazard lines and the childlike simplicity imbue the piece with a sense of spontaneity, embodying the essence of Neo-Expressionism and Street art. This seemingly haphazard arrangement mask underlying themes of creation and origin, revealing Basquiat’s ability to intertwine complexity with visual simplicity.
