This paper approaches Basquiat’s oeuvre through the anti-humanist lens of afro-pessimist theory. I interpret the dialectic of black positionality and black power operative in his work through the relation between irony and anatomy.
From this perspective, I propose an approach to the problem of slavery in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit through his discussion of anatomy and physiology, rather than the master/slave dialectic.
[button color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”http://www.academia.edu/14413978/The_Irony_of_Anatomy_Basquiats_Poetics_of_Black_Positionality” text=”Read Full Paper” color_override=””]