Jean-Michel Basquiat (/ ˌbɑːskiˈɑː (t)/ BAH-skee-AH (T), [1] French: [ʒɑ̃ miʃɛl baskja]; – ) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al Diaz, writing enigmatic epigrams all over Manhattan ...
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American painter known for his raw gestural style of painting with graffiti-like images and scrawled text. Basquiat was raised in a middle-class home in Brooklyn. His mother was an American of Puerto Rican descent. She encouraged Basquiat’s interest in art, taking him to
Discover the life, art, and legacy of Jean-Michel Basquiat — the iconic neo-expressionist artist. Explore his artwork, biography, style analysis, and influence on contemporary art
Basquiat gained to popularity in the 1980s with his neo-expressionist paintings, but his oeuvre truly started in the mid-1970s with the street art he created on New York City’s Lower East Side. There he created his improvisational approach, which incorporates symbols and allusions from a variety of sources, including music, religion, and history, as well as cultural and political commentary ...
Jean-Michel Basquiat emerged in New York as a gritty, street-smart graffiti artist crossing over from downtown origins to art gallery stardom.
When asked to describe his art, Jean-Michel Basquiat responded with customary aplomb: “royalty, heroism, and the streets.” A high school dropout, Basquiat found his true calling hanging out in the streets and inserting himself in the bustling urban milieu, ultimately becoming an influential figure in New York City’s Downtown, especially the East Village club scene. He was a regular among ...