Jean-Micheal Basquiat MOMA Exhibition

Impact on Society

Inhis short life Jean-Michel Basquiat nonetheless came to play an important and historic role in the rise of the downtown cultural scene in New York and Neo-Expressionism more broadly. While the larger public latched on to the superficial exoticism of his work and were captivated by his overnight celebrity, his art, which has often been described inaccurately as “naif” and “ethnically gritty”, held important connections to expressive precursors, such as Jean Dubuffet and Cy Twombly. A product of the celebrity and commerce-obsessed culture of the 1980s, Basquiat and his work continue to serve for many observers as a metaphor for the dangers of artistic and social excess.

Hollywood Africans

Basquiat’s Portfolio

W/ Death

In Italian

Basquiat took inspiration for his themes from his childhood and heritage. He used his art as a young Black guy in New York in the 1980s to critique the history of colonialism and racism that affected African Americans. These critiques—along with those on money and poverty—are conveyed through motifs rather than in an overt manner. His crowns, which are both critiques of race and class as well as status symbols for Basquiat himself, are

Dos Cabezas

Riding

Untitled

Skull

Born: December 22, 1960 - Brooklyn, New York

Died: August 12, 1988 - New York, New York, USA

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn in 1960. His mother, Matilde Andradas was born also born in Brooklyn but to parents from Puerto Rico. His father, Gerard Basquiat, was an immigrant from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a result of this mixed heritage the young Jean-Michel was fluent in both French and Spanish as well as English. His early readings of French symbolist poetry in their original language would later be an influence on the artworks that he made as an adult. Basquiat displayed a talent for art in early childhood, learning to draw and paint with his mother’s encouragement and often using supplies (such

as paper) brought home from his father’s job as an accountant. Together Basquiat and his mother attended many museum exhibitions in New York, and by the age of six Jean-Michel was enrolled as a Junior Member of the Brooklyn Museum. After being hit by a car whilst playing in the street at age 8, Basquiat underwent surgery for the removal of his spleen. This event led to his reading the famous medical and artistic treatise, Gray’s Anatomy (originally published in 1858), which was given to him by his mother whilst he recovered. The

“ The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that didn’t see many paintings with black people in them. ”

—Jean Michael Basquiat

Jean X Andy

The connection between Pop Art master Andy Warhol and his protege JeanMichel Basquiat is remembered in art history as one of the most striking—and fleeting—of the modern age. It was the pivotal artistic partnership of the 1980s.

According to the legend, Basquiat painted a double picture of the pair together after seeing them in the photo and sent it to Warhol just two hours later. Its title, Dos Cabezas (1982), is Spanish for "two heads."

Warhol famously reflected on the speed and vigor that went into creating this important piece by saying, “I mean, just getting to Christie Street [to deliver it] must have taken an hour.”

Accomplishments

Basquiat’s work mixed together many different styles and techniques. His paintings often included words and text, his graffiti was expressive and often abstract, and his logos and iconography had a deep historical resonance. Despite his work’s “unstudied” appearance, he very skillfully and purposefully brought together a host of disparate traditions, practices, and styles to create his signature visual collage.Many of his artworks reflect an opposition or tension between two poles - rich and poor, black and white, inner and Many of his artworks reflect an opposition or tension between two poles - rich and poor, black and white, inner and outer experience. This tension and contrast reflected his mixed cultural heritage and experiences growing up and living within New York City and in America more generally.

Basquiat’s work is an example of how American artists of the 1980s began to reintroduce and privilege the human figure in their work after the domination of Minimalism and Conceptualism in the international art market. Basquiat and other Neo-Expressionist painters were seen as establishing a dialogue with the more distant tradition of 1950s Abstract Expressionism, and the earlier

“I don’t listen to what art critics say. I don’t know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.”

Legacy

Dozens of drawings and paintings by Basquiat have preserved despite the fact that he passed away at the young age of 27. Given the global social and political landscape, his work is extremely important today. So, via their own creations, artists of various genres carry on Basquiat’s critiques of racism. But the youthful artist has influenced more than just fine art. The album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” by Jay-Z was released in 2013. Numerous times throughout the song “Picasso Baby” are references to Basquiat. These allusions, according to rumor, are made because Jay-Z connects with Basquiat’s tale of rising from poverty to wealth.

Monday 10:30am - 5:30pm

Tuesday 10:30am - 5:30pm

Wednesday 10:30am - 5:30pm

Thursday 10:30am - 5:30pm

Friday 10:30am - 5:30pm

Saturday 10:30am - 5:30pm