This triptych is formed by three skate decks made of 7 ply grade A Canadian maple.
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York
The Guilt of Gold Teeth is one of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s most powerful and symbolically rich works. Created in 1982—considered his most prolific and creative year—this monumental painting (over two meters high) is a masterful example of how Basquiat merged history, identity, and social critique into a single visual blow.
The central figure of the piece is Baron Samedi, a key deity in Haitian Vodou, god of the dead and guardian of cemeteries, known for his flamboyant appearance: top hat, skeletal face, and dark glasses. Basquiat, whose father was Haitian, often turned to Afro-Caribbean iconography in his work—not only as a reference to his roots but also as a way to rewrite a history that had been ignored or distorted by the Western gaze.
In The Guilt of Gold Teeth, Baron Samedi appears in an authoritative and menacing stance, surrounded by words, symbols, bones, and chaotic structures. Like many other figures in Basquiat’s art, he is not just a character, but a symbol of power, resistance, death—but also protection. The painting seems to speak of the historical violence suffered by the African diaspora—colonialism, slavery, systemic racism—and how those wounds still resonate.
The title itself, The Guilt of Gold Teeth, suggests a reflection on the weight of heritage, wealth born of exploitation, and the pain that can lie behind symbols of status. Basquiat often played with enigmatic titles and language, and here he seems to be questioning the history of ill-gotten wealth—gold as a symbol of power, but also of guilt.
Visually, the painting is an explosion: raw lines, vibrant colors, dismembered figures, and cryptic text coexist in a space that seems to scream. There’s urgency, rage, and clarity in his strokes. Basquiat didn’t paint to please—he painted to confront.
The Guilt of Gold Teeth is not just a work of art, it’s a visual ritual that blends spirituality, historical memory, and fierce critique. A piece that forces us to look back in order to understand the present, and that brings to the surface what many have tried to silence.
