The artist used acrylic only on canvas for Gri Gri, where as normally he would mix several different media together for different purposes within the same artwork. This design is much simpler, and therefore he does not need anything more than tones of white, black and red in a single medium. The lack of chaotic detail as found elsewhere in his career is not here, instead we find a single figure looking out from a brightly lit window of light. The rest of the scene is then emblazoned with black paint, other than for the feet and hands of the figure which creep into that part of the painting in tones of dark red. Basquiat worked in a Neo-Expressionist style which focused less on producing items in a realistic manner, and much more on simply delving into one's mind and placing whatever you find directly onto canvas.
This painting is now a part of a private collection, just as with most of Basquiat's art from the 1980s. It was by this point that his reputation was growing considerably and quickly, which collectors were starting to pick up on. Even within the last two decades there has been a continual rise in the prices earned by his work at auction, which now regularly run into the many millions for his one-off paintings. He is rightly considered a leading light in the New York scene from the 1980s and this period gifted us some of the most influential contemporary artists that the world has ever seen. Basquiat would have to overcome a number of obstacles placed in front of him in order to rise to this extraordinary height. We now recognise him as critical to both modern art but also to the greater focus on African American artists, a cause which he was particularly passionate.
Across his career Basquiat would experiment with different methods, having originally come from a background of street art. His expressive approach continued into the mainstream art world as he started to gain recognition for his work. He remained interested in more traditional western art but never wished to work in that style. He is known to have particularly respected Titian and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter for his particularly impressive skills as a draughtsman. Basquiat was a man from the streets, literally, and lived homeless for a while before he managed to turn his life around, and then some.
