In <i>Highest 2 Lowest</i>, Black Art Is the Main Character

Denzel Washington’s David King isn’t the only main character in Spike Lee’s latest cinematic valentine to New York City, Highest 2 Lowest; Black art shines as a compelling co-star, too. The film, which began streaming on Apple TV+ on September 5, is a modern remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, High and Low. In Lee’s interpretation, King is a Bronx-born hustler turned record label executive, with concrete-jungle grit and an industry reputation for having the “best ears in the business.” While King’s talent earned him a panoramic-view penthouse for himself and his family, New York glitterati status, and Grammys via his career as the founder of Stackin’ Hits Records, King finds himself in his latter years insatiable, salivating for more control. But after he plots to buy the label for himself, he gets caught in a dangerous moral dilemma that puts those closest to him at risk. Amid the chaos that ensues—which includes tensions with local rapper Young Felon (A$AP Rocky), high-speed police chases through roaring National Puerto Rican Day Parade celebrations, and clashes with rowdy Yankee Stadium-bound fans on game day—there is another loud, visual sub-plot steering the ship: the enduring value of art created by and inspired by Black people. From the close-ups of a large-scale collage by Deborah Roberts in King’s home, to an intentional camera-pan to an iconic Kamala Harris portrait by Shepard Fairey, to the various musicians referenced throughout the film, Black art takes the spotlight in Highest 2 Lowest as both an aspiration and something we have a moral obligation to protect.

Production designer Mark Friedberg (Joker) curated the interior of David King’s luxe penthouse and featured replica art pieces (because “you can’t put a $5 million painting on a movie set with people moving around,” he says) inspired by Spike Lee’s actual collection. Lee has “been collecting Black art since 1986,” the director himself tells ELLE, and he describes King’s home gallery as a visual “shorthand” to convey social status. “You see Basquiats, Kehinde Wiley on the walls; you know King’s got money and great taste,” Lee says.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work Now’s the Time looms in the background of a scene in David King’s apartment in Highest 2 Lowest.

Friedberg says he began world-building Highest 2 Lowest by roaming museum halls, a staple part of his creative process. “Art is the only thing that really makes sense to me, especially lately,” he tells ELLE. “Ironically, in the case of this movie, I accepted the invitation to work on this right before Spike's big show at the Brooklyn Museum,” he says. Spike Lee: Creative Sources debuted in 2023 featuring artists like Gordon Parks, Norman Lewis, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Deborah Roberts, and Michael Ray Charles. A lot of those works ended up hanging on King’s penthouse walls. Friedberg said it was Lee’s idea to feature replicas of his own pieces, adding that the filmmaker “considered the art more than what was hanging on the walls of the set, and considered it to have its own life.”

The film’s visual messaging couldn’t be more timely. This year, Vulture reported that the market value of some Black art pieces has plummeted since 2021. For example, a portrait like Green Sofa by artist Kwesi Botchway was valued at over $200,000 three years ago. Now, a similar work by the same artist, titled Non-Binary Flare is now priced at $11,400, a nearly 95 percent depreciation in just a short time, according to the report. Kendall Hurns, founder and curator of Arte Haus Studios, Chicago, tells ELLE the current market price volatility of Black art stems from the “fake gold rush moment” that followed George Floyd’s death at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, and the Trump administration’s war on DEI efforts this year has only further exacerbated the pressure.

“You had all of these companies, all of these collectors buying art because Black was the thing,” Hurns, who founded his art studio in 2021, says. “Then once that subsided, it kind of messed up the market for a lot of artists. It was a really bad time once that bubble burst.” But Hurns said he’s not deterred by the dip, noting that “we control what’s cool.” So while business may fluctuate, the intrinsic value of Black storytelling through art is priceless. Hurns says when he sits with artists to discuss their work, he hears inspirational stories of Black radiance, resilience, and resistance.

Lee at the opening of his exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in 2023.

Hurns believes the impact of giving Black fine artists a Hollywood stage trickles down into real-world consumer habits. He, for example, was personally inspired by Boomerang, Eddie Murphy’s 1992 comedy about a Black male advertising executive by day, Casanova by night. “The decor of Eddie’s crib made me have an interest in interior design. I saw how beautiful his space looked and how warm, cozy, and inviting it was, and I’m like, ‘Man, that’s how I want my place to look,’” he says. “So I can only imagine that people going to see [Highest 2 Lowest], who get to experience those art moments throughout the film, will leave with some type of inspiration, if they are not already into it.”

Friedberg says each shot that underscores the beauty and power of the artwork in Highest 2 Lowes was intentional. “You cut to a picture of Joe Lewis in a moment of the story where maybe something tough is happening,” he says. “There’s the Rolling Stone cover that David King sort of yells at when he’s trying to figure out that night what he should do. He literally holds the art in his hand and talks to it. There are other times in the movie where Spike will literally just cut to a cutaway on the painting,” the Primetime Emmy winner said. The same could also be said of the film’s many references and tributes to Black music: the vinyl of Aretha Franklin in David’s office, Broadway star Norm Lewis singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” at the beginning of the film, rising singer-songwriter Jensen McRae serenading King in the lobby of his office building, and many, many more. Details like these complement David’s journey throughout the film, which culminates with him reviving his passion for music as an artform rather than a commodity.

Aiyana-Lee as Sula, named after Toni Morrison’s book, in Highest 2 Lowest.

At the end of Highest 2 Lowest, a musician named Sula (Aiyana-Lee), helps lull King back to his love of the art by serenading him and his family right in their living room. The name Sula, which is gleaned from the title of a 1973 novel by Toni Morrison, is yet another nod to a prolific Black writer whose work and words have endured and inspired for generations. It’s a sweet ending note to a film that puts Black music and Black art front and center, each frame standing as a bold act of on-screen, cultural preservation.