Riddle Me This Batman was created in 1987, just one year before Basquiat died in 1988, aged just 28. This art work was made using acrylic crayon on paper, a medium that Basquiat used in several other of his works.
Basquiat was also known for using the traditional street art medium of spray paints - not least as part of his work with SAMO, a two person graffiti art group based in Manhattan, NYC.
This drawing is, as its title suggests, clearly a reference to the popular Batman comic and movie franchise. In the drawing, we can see Batman, Robin and the Joker. However, these easily recognisable cultural symbols are problematised, and somewhat subverted.
For example, the word 'Batman' which is emblazoned on Batman's chest has been crossed out in both of the two drawings of Batman on the page (to the top right and the bottom right of the picture).
And, Batman's traditionally earnest an innocent sidekick Robin is depicted with the stubble and flushed face of a drunkard whilst a question mark has been drawn over his chest. In the centre of the page is the Joker - is it his laughter that reverberates around the picture in the form of the words 'hee hee' and 'ha ha'?
The way in which Basquiat integrates word and image here is typical of much of his work. A lot of his street art, for example, was highly epigrammatic in style, using snippets of poetry to get his point across.
Basquiat's use of references to popular culture in this drawing are also notable. He was known for being influenced by, and acquainted with, pop artist, for example.
Pop Art was a genre in the 1950s and 60s that blurred the boundary and the hierarchy between art and popular culture. One series of photographs depicts Basquiat and the Pop Artist Andy Warhol, for example. Perhaps, in Riddle Me This Batman, a late work by Basquiat, we see the maturing of this influence as it blends with Basquiat's own distinctively figurative style.
