Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Ascent, from the Daros Suite, is a densely layered composition that explores spiritual ambition, intellectual striving, and the precarious pursuit of transcendence. Set against an expansive field of electric blue, the work unfolds as a constellation of symbols, texts, and schematic figures that suggest movement upward—both physical and metaphysical—while never offering resolution or clarity.

The repeated word “ASCENT,” arrows pointing skyward, ladders, and ascending figures evoke progress and elevation, yet these motifs are counterbalanced by crossed-out passages, obscured faces, and fragmented bodies. Basquiat’s recurring dichotomy of “FLESH / SPIRIT” appears within the composition, reinforcing the tension between material existence and spiritual aspiration. Mythological, philosophical, and religious references—including nods to Plato, Plotinus, and John the Revelator—situate the work within a broader inquiry into knowledge, belief, and enlightenment.

Color operates as both structure and atmosphere. The saturated blue ground acts as a unifying yet restless plane, interrupted by blacked-out areas and bursts of white, yellow, and red that fracture the visual flow. Figures appear schematic and provisional, as if caught mid-thought or mid-climb, emphasizing the instability of the journey rather than its destination.

In Ascent, Basquiat treats upward movement not as triumph but as struggle—an ongoing negotiation between clarity and confusion, faith and doubt. The screen-printed format preserves the immediacy of his hand while sharpening the work’s graphic intensity, resulting in a composition that reads as a visual manifesto on ambition, transcendence, and the cost of striving beyond earthly limits. For more information on Jean Michel Basquiat's Ascent for sale, contact our New York and London galleries using the form below.