Jean-Michel Basquiat Charles the First Skateboard Triptych from The Skateroom

Neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat paid tribute to jazz musician Charlie Parker in his painting Charlie the First (1982), reproduced here on this skateboard triptych, crafted from seven-ply Canadian maple wood. Each board measures 32h x 8.25w x 0.5″ per deck. 

1980s art icon and native New Yorker Jean-Michel Basquiat was hailed for works that draw on a multivalent range of sources, from Greek, Roman, and African art to jazz, pop culture and his artistic contemporaries. Before he rose to art stardom, however, his work was already legendary on the streets of downtown NYC. Under the tag SAMO©, Basquiat’s fragmented poetry and poignant symbols established a visual vocabulary that continues to inspire a new generation of graffiti artists today. Jean-Michel Basquiat Charles the First is a set of three skate decks made in collaboration between The Skateroom and The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat’s work is represented in MoMA’s collection.

The Skateroom is a platform for promoting, selling and producing art on skateboards that supports youth-empowering organizations.