The Post-Modern Era marks a distinct break in the linear progression of art. Previously art movements were defined by being greater or do something newer than the generation before them. Now art is almost entirely about personal expression, artists are not trying to best those who came before them and are free to create art however they please. One of the most important artists of the post-modern era was Basquiat. Basquiat began as a graffiti artist with his iconic tag “SAMO@”, which was a play on the phrase “Same old…”. He would place his tag in different areas of SoHo which was the neighborhood where most art galleries were located in New York. He originally started off working in a group with 2 other graffiti artists but eventually started branching out and working on his own. This angered his partners and led him to abandon graffiti and switch to painting.
His Horn Players really highlights his graffiti roots in the way it is done a very rushed and messy style, similar to how graffiti is done. Basquiat draws a lot of inspiration from jazz music in this work. He is attempting to pay homage to a genre that black artists created. The work is improvisational just as jazz musicians often improvise while playing. He includes the names of 2 famous jazz musicians – Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He also includes the word ornithology, the study of words, multiple times, as a reference to Charlie Parker’s nickname “Bird”.