Jean-Michel Basquiat had a brief but significant career. Born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican and Haitian parents, his ascent to prominence was swift, as he was praised for his unique graphic style, scathing social commentary, and fusion of multicultural symbols. From a young age, he routinely visited museums, and many his early interests—from cartoons to anatomy and French and Spanish textbooks—would inform his later work. At the age of 17, Basquiat left school and relocated to Lower Manhattan, where he painted, played in a noise band, and worked odd jobs. When a group of punk and graffiti underground artists organised the "Times Square Show" in 1980, the art world began to take notice of his paintings. He immersed himself in New York's urban avant-garde culture of the 1980s, producing highly expressive paintings that emphasised the gestural and physical aspects of his creative process. He combined ancient Greek, Roman, African, and Aztec imagery with his own iconography and graphic marks. Constantly aware of his status as an African-American in the art world, Basquiat's work was full of images that both referenced and commented on the African Diaspora's culture and racial relations in America.
Jean-Michel Basquiat had a brief but significant career. Born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican and Haitian parents, his ascent to prominence was swift, as he was praised for his unique graphic style, scathing social commentary, and fusion of multicultural symbols. From a young age, he routinely visited museums, and many his early interests—from cartoons to anatomy and French and Spanish textbooks—would inform his later work. At the age of 17, Basquiat left school and relocated to Lower Manhattan, where he painted, played in a noise band, and worked odd jobs. When a group of punk and graffiti underground artists organised the "Times Square Show" in 1980, the art world began to take notice of his paintings. He immersed himself in New York's urban avant-garde culture of the 1980s, producing highly expressive paintings that emphasised the gestural and physical aspects of his creative process. He combined ancient Greek, Roman, African, and Aztec imagery with his own iconography and graphic marks. Constantly aware of his status as an African-American in the art world, Basquiat's work was full of images that both referenced and commented on the African Diaspora's culture and racial relations in America.
