Basquiat History

Neo-Expressionism, an art movement that developed in the 1970s, is characterized by its abandonment of “Minimalist restraint and Conceptual coolness. [It] offered violent feeling expressed through previously taboo means-including gestural paint handling and allegory” (Neo-Expressionism). Jean-Michel Basquiat, a well-known Neo-Expressionist painter, explored a multitude of themes that interested him. The most prevalent were issues on race, culture, and heritage. During his 27 years of life, he was able to accurately represent the everyday struggle of the average African-American male while reforming the art industry, defying and accepting stereotypes, and depicting touchy themes of race in his visual art.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, of both Puerto Rican and Haitian descent, grew up in Brooklyn and at the age of 17, ran away from his home to live in Manhattan and pursue his art career. He began as a homeless graffiti artist under the name SAMO. Throughout Manhattan, he would tag poetic phrases onto walls. An expression he used repeatedly was “Boom For Real.” It meant that he would rupture a coherent object or idea (Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child). The end result would be a galaxy of reality made up of incoherent yet equal parts. He believed that he could do this to the art industry. He pioneered a new art form that puzzled the preceding artists. It was, essentially, graffiti that had been put on a canvas. To many Americans, graffiti was an art form for those who held little impact in the chaos of the art world, such as the average African American male. So by having his work bought and valued by people who actually had impact in the art realm, he detonated such realm. When pop star Madonna was inquired about him, she acknowledge...

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...ential of the African American male.

Towards the end of Basquiat’s life, he became a victim of substance abuse. Many of his friends believed that he used drugs as a way to cope with his paranoia. He found it very hard to trust anyone around him once he gained fame (Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child). At the time, many African American males shared the same fear and used drugs as a way to manage it. Basquiat died from a heroin overdose and serves as an example for any African American male who deals with paranoia.

Basquiat has provided a well-rounded description of an African-American male’s struggle throughout his artwork because he recognized the fact that they were deprived from experiencing certain aspects of the American artistic culture, mocked, racially profiled, He is still referenced today in the music of rappers like Jay Z because of his efficacy.