Flexible is a powerful and immediately recognizable image within Jean-Michel Basquiat’s oeuvre, presenting a lone, elongated figure rendered with raw intensity against a pale, lined ground. The composition centers on a skeletal, mask-like head with exposed teeth and piercing eyes, outlined in urgent strokes of red, black, yellow, and green. The looping contour that frames the figure creates a sense of containment and tension, as if the body is both confined and stretched beyond natural limits.

The figure’s exaggerated posture and elongated neck suggest vulnerability, endurance, and psychological strain. Basquiat’s characteristic visual language—anatomical markings, fractured outlines, and layered color—evokes both X-ray imagery and ritual masks, drawing connections between the body, identity, and cultural memory. The lined background recalls notebook paper or institutional record-keeping, reinforcing themes of classification, surveillance, and control.

Despite the title, Flexible carries an undertone of discomfort. The body appears bent and compliant, yet the aggressive line work and confrontational gaze resist passivity. This tension reflects Basquiat’s ongoing examination of how Black bodies are viewed, shaped, and pressured within social and historical frameworks. The restrained palette, punctuated by sharp accents of color, heightens the work’s emotional immediacy while allowing the figure to dominate the surface.

In its screen-printed form, Flexible preserves the urgency of Basquiat’s hand while translating the image into a monumental scale. The work stands as a stark meditation on resilience and constraint, encapsulating the artist’s ability to fuse personal expression with broader social critique. For more information on Jean Michel Basquiat's Flexible for sale, contact our New York and London galleries using the form below.