“Melting Point of Ice,” created by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1984, is a Neo-Expressionist and Street art piece rendered in acrylic and crayon on canvas. Measuring 218.5 x 172.5 cm, this figurative artwork is located at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, California.
The artwork presents a complex and dynamic assemblage of symbols, text, and imagery, characteristic of Basquiat’s signature style. Various figures, numbers, and words such as “NON-TOXIC,” “RX,” and “EYE OF HORUS” are haphazardly interspersed across the canvas. An outlined figure resembling a cow and a person holding a staff occupy the lower left quadrant, juxtaposed with abstract elements like a black and white sketch that seems to depict industrial apparatus or scientific instruments labeled “HYGROMETER®”. Shades of black, white, red, and yellow predominate, while the energetic lines and dripping paint convey a raw, expressive quality. The amalgamation of anatomical references, medical terms, and mystical symbols evoke the thoughts on life, death, and identity frequently explored in Basquiat’s work.
