In Basquiat’s painting, great joy, We see a tall, black woman with an imposing posture and a confident expression. Hands in pockets and staring ahead with hollow eyes. Interestingly, he is wearing a shirt and pants, which is somewhat unusual in his paintings.
In many of Basquiat’s other paintings that include female figures, they are either nude or in their original female attire. In fact, most of his female characters are recognizable primarily because of their depiction of nudity. robotman and woman, call girl, And rice and chicken Include nude female figures whose gender is largely identifiable due to their nudity. It is noteworthy that in all these paintings the women are either expressionless, indifferent (as call girl), or in a vulnerable position such as a child (as robotman and woman,, But, once a female figure is wearing a masculine-coded outfit, she appears confident, bold and strong. This shows how Basquiat reflects society’s collective association of self-confidence, strength, and vigor with masculinity, while the feminine gender role is associated with vulnerability.