Jean-Michel Basquiat; Two Page Review

            Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the most successful modern artists of his time and still to this day he has such a huge impact on the art world. He started as a graffiti artist in New York in the late 1970s, as a teenager. Then his art later formed into a neo-expressionist form of art in the 1980s. Basquiat’s work has a childlike appearance with a deeper meaning.

            Jean-Michel Basquiat had a rough child-life so when is father banished him, he went to live in Brooklyn with a friend. When he was living in Brooklyn he was able to live off of t-shirts and postcards. For fun, in Manhattan now, Basquiat and Al Diaz started what is known as graffiti art in 1976. Graffiti art is simply done with spray paint and done on any random wall or building that can be found. This is where Basquiat got his start. He used the name SAMO as a title name for his messages until 1979. 

The art above is just one of the many examples of SAMO graffiti messages. He continued art, just in a new form; starting a band called Grey. The start of Basquiat’s big fame began when he met Andy Warhol in 1982 when Basquiat was trying to sell him one of his postcards.

            Andy Warhol wanted to formally meet with Basquiat but instead Basquiat went and did a painting of Warhol in record timing. Basquiat brought the painting to Warhol and Warhol was amazed at his masterpiece and how fast he had completed it. Since Warhol was so impressed with Basquiat, they decided that they would then work together in art. They both had such unique styles, Warhol with his pop art style and Basquiat’s neo-expressionist style. The two examples below show some of the work that they collaborated on together.

            This was just a short era of what Basquiat’s art was later to become. Basquiat’s art alone was some of the greatest modern art known to this day. As said before, he had a very distinct neo-expressionist style of art; which was child-like, but with a much deeper meaning. He often took very well known pieces of work, such as the Mona Lisa, and redid them in his own style. When he was first starting out he often times did painting of doors or other surfaces that he would find on the streets. Below are some of his most famous pieces of art.

            Jean-Michel Basquiat is an amazing artist, and not only because of his art. He is amazing because of how he made himself famous. He started out as a nobody; he was homeless and had no money. He had the confidence to make something of himself and did so. He came such a long way and it is very sad to know that he died from a drug overdose. Basquiat changed the definition of art from his era onward.