“Television and Cruelty to Animals” is an artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat that was created in 1983. The piece is executed using acrylic, crayon, and paper, and it belongs to the genres of Neo-Expressionism and Street art. The physical dimensions of the artwork are 152.4 x 152.4 cm, and it is categorized under the figurative genre.
The artwork presents a collage of seemingly disjointed elements, including images, words, and symbols, rendered in Basquiat’s characteristic expressive style. Prominent visual elements include a bat-like figure, an eight-ball, and a red moose, interspersed with fragmented text and symbols such as the number “49”, “26”, and various phrases like “Popeye versus the Nazis”. The composition is chaotic yet deliberate, drawing viewers into a complex interplay of meanings and visual associations, evoking the raw intensity typical of Basquiat’s works.
