He was picking up
wastes in the street
slabs of wood, scraps of canvas,
.......if he was lucky

He then came back
to East 12th Street
with the wastes

If there's nothing like those
then, he painted on walls

He started with
nothing, but he became
the world's most influential artist

Jean Michel Basquiat
came from a family with misfortune.
His father was from Haiti,
and was told abusive to his family

Father of him, Gerald

And his mother was volatile
She was sent to mental
hospital when he was 13

Basquiat and his mother

But she took her son
to the Museum of Modern Art
and Brooklyn Museum often

 

They got separated when he was 7
and his father took him
with his two sisters

He ran away from his home at age 17
and slept on the sofas and floors
of friends’ places or couch-surfed

He then spray-painted walls
around New York SOHO
......and East Village

He was angry
- angry enough to say nothing
on the question of
"what are you angry about?"

I said,

"Of course I am angry,
..........................................
but I don't remember"

His expression of anger  resonated
with many contemporary artists
such as Andy Warhol

Because his art was something unique
full of energy, strength
and electrifying street graffiti

So he was often called
"Black Van Gogh"

Self-portraits of Van Gogh and Basquiat

In 1982, he dated with Madonna
who was then taking her first step
in the music scene
She became superstar after their breakup
and he worked with Andy for next project

But he was not really welcomed
by major museums and artist society
mainly because of his skin color

 

Unfortunately, he died in 1988, age of 27
Herione overdose was the cause
He suffered from the loss of Andy who
died of irregular heartbeat after operation

 

After his death, until recently
he was largely dismissed
by many museums
as they thought him
as a jump-up wall sprayer

But recently he was called as
"the most collected artist of
sportsmen, actors, musicians
and entrepreneurs”
(Christie's spokesperson)

For example, these are the names
who loved and owned his arts


Jay-Z, Swiss Beatz,
Johnny Depp, John McEnroe
and Leonardo DiCaprio

His painting 'untitled' were sold
at 110m$ in 2017
which valued higher than
any arts ever existed
in American art history

He ate the anger,
picked up wastes in streets
and simply sprayed them on walls.

That rage became cathartic joy

Perhaps that's why
he's remembered today