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Quick Facts
- NAME: Jean-Michel Basquiat
- OCCUPATION: Painter
- BIRTH DATE: December 22, 1960
- DEATH DATE: August 12, 1988
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Brooklyn, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
- Full Name: Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Nickname: "SAMO"
Best Known For
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s. He is best known for his primitive style and his collaboration with pop artist Andy Warhol.
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Play NowJean-Michel Basquiat. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:37, Jun 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851.
Jean-Michel Basquiat. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851 [Accessed 19 Jun 2013].
"Jean-Michel Basquiat." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 19 2013, 11:37 http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851.
"Jean-Michel Basquiat," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851 [accessed Jun 19, 2013].
"Jean-Michel Basquiat," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851 (accessed Jun 19, 2013).
Jean-Michel Basquiat [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851 (last visited Jun 19, 2013).
Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/jean-michel-basquiat-185851. Accessed Jun 19, 2013.
Synopsis
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York. He first attracted attention for his graffiti under the name "SAMO" in New York City. He sold sweatshirts and postcards featuring his artwork on the streets before his painting career took off. He collaborated with Andy Warhol in the mid-1980s, which resulted in a show of their work. Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, in New York City.
Quotes
"I am not a black artist, I am an artist."
Early Years
Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960. With a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat's diverse cultural heritage was one of his many sources of inspiration.
A self-taught artist, Basquiat began drawing at an early age on sheets of paper his father, an accountant, brought home from the office. As he delved deeper into his creative side, his mother strongly encouraged to pursue artistic talents.
Basquiat first attracted attention for his graffiti in New York City in the late 1970s, under the name "SAMO." Working with a close friend, he tagged subway trains and Manhattan buildings with cryptic aphorisms.
In 1977, Basquiat quit high school a year before he was slated to graduate. To make ends meet, he sold sweatshirts and postcards featuring his artwork on the streets of his native New York.
Commercial Success
Three years of struggle gave way to fame in 1980, when his work was featured in a group show. His work and style received critical acclaim for the fusion of words, symbols, stick figures, and animals. Soon, his paintings came to be adored by an art loving public that had no problem paying as much as $50,000 for a Basquiat original.
His rise coincided with the emergence of a new art movement, Neo-Expressionism, ushering in a wave of new, young and experimental artists that included Julian Schnabel and Susan Rothenberg.
In the mid 1980s, Basquiat collaborated with famed pop artist Andy Warhol, which resulted in a show of their work that featured a series of corporate logos and cartoon characters.
On his own, Basquiat continued to exhibit around the country and the world. In 1986, he traveled to Africa for a show in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. That same year, the 25-year-old exhibited nearly 60 paintings at the Kestner-Gesellschaft Gallery in Hanover, Germany—becoming the youngest artist to ever showcase his work there.
Personal Problems
As his popularity soared, so did Basquiat's personal problems. By the mid-1980s, friends became increasingly concerned by his excessive drug use. He became paranoid and isolated himself from the world around him for long strethes. Desperate to kick a heroin addiction, he left New York for Hawaii in 1988, returning a few months later and claiming to be sober.
Sadly, he wasn't. Basquiat died of a drug overdose on August 12, 1988, in New York City. He was 27 years old. Although his art career was brief, Jean-Michel Basquiat has been credited with bringing the African-American and Latino experience in the elite art world.
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The 27 Club
View groupThe 27 club is a group of artists who died tragically at the young age of 27. They were some of the most talented minds of their generation, and in their short lives each made an enormous impact. Sadly, many led hard-partying lifestyles, abusing drugs and alcohol. These are the musicians and artists who make up the 27 club.
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Famous Black Artists
View groupThey are the famous African-American artists who have exquisitely shared portrayals of historic events and individuals, cultural perspectives, and the experiences and struggles of minorities through their artwork. Examine our list of pivotal black artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, who helped to bring African-American and Latino experiences into the elite art world through his graffiti works; Augusta Savage, a sculptor and leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance, who experienced racial discrimination by an art program's selection committee; and Kara Walker, who has used paper silhouettes to depict race and gender relations.
Famous Black Artists 16 people in this group
