JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT - Works and History

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an African-American painter who can be classified as a Neo-Expressionist.
Along with Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, Basquiat is considered one of the artists of the 1970s and 1980s who made graffiti painting socially acceptable in the art world – although Basquiat, who rose to fame early on, never considered himself a graffiti artist.
Born on December 22, 1960, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, Basquiat showed an interest in art as a child.
His early work consisted of poetic and sarcastic phrases, which he sprayed on the walls of buildings in New York’s SoHo district together with his friend Al Diaz under the pseudonym SAMO©. Basquiat later collaborated with Pop artist Andy Warhol.
As part of the Neo-Expressionist movement alongside Julian Schnabel and David Salle, Basquiat distinguished himself through his African imagery and symbolism, which he blended with the movement’s characteristic action painting and vibrant color scheme.
At the age of 21, Basquiat was the youngest participant to date at the documenta in Kassel in 1982. Basquiat, who lived and worked in New York,
died there of a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988, at the age of 27.
The first retrospective of his work took place from October 1992 to February 1993 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.