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Jean-Michel Basquiat’s childhood artwork was wild and abstract. He never forgot losing an art contest to a kid who drew “a perfect Spiderman.” His father would bring home paper from work for Jean-Michel to draw and paint on, his mother encouraged his love of art and often took him to museums. He wasn’t satisfied with his drawings— he wanted to be the best artist and felt his art had an ugly edge to it. When he was eight, playing near his Brooklyn home, Jean-Michel was hit by a car and had to stay in the hospital many weeks. His mother brought him a copy of Gray’s Anatomy to keep him from getting bored while he recovered, and to help her inquisitive son understand his own body better. The book influenced him deeply. Basquiat never lost this sense of curiosity—he read, studied and thought about life throughout his artistic career. As a teen, he went to New York’s progressive “City-As-School” high school, but decided to drop out after he played an unforgivable prank on the principal: he dumped a box of shaving cream on his head. This sense of humor and fun is often in evidence in Basquiat’s art. Writer Glenn O’Brien tells a story of being at a party with Basquiat where a rich man asked Jean-Michel what he did for a living. He told him he was a manager at a MacDonalds and the man just walked away. They probably had a good laugh, but as he always did, Basquait was taking mental notes about how society behaved (or more accurately, misbehaved) regarding race and class.
Basquiat’s father was serious and severe, his mother fragile and sensitive. As a teen, he ran away from home more than once. One time he went to a state park with a suitcase full of canned food and slept in the woods for a couple of days. Later, when he ran away for good, he stayed with friends in New York; kids who made art and music whom he had met in nightclubs. Sometimes he’d push the limits of friendship because he’d draw on their things; refrigerators, lab coats, windows, doors, boxes and even the bottoms of shoes. He was always making art. He’d get bored if he went a week without painting. His paintings meet at a curious crossroads between elegant and innocent. His mastery of color, use of intuitive techniques and keen awareness thread through all of his work. It is funny, clever, and deceptively simple at times. To some it may seem primitive and childlike, but there is no doubt about his absolute mastery and control. He was able to tap into a kind of purity few artists can access, but he could tame and mold it. There is no mistaking his fierce intelligence.
Basquiat and a friend spray-painted cryptic poetry all over New York and signed the works “SAMO.” It looked like graffiti, except for the intellect behind it, and foreshadowed Basquiat’s later use of words in his paintings. These street poems became well known and were talked about among local artists and writers. Basquiat wanted to be famous, successful, and respected. He worked hard at getting the attention of well-known artists and critics. By the time he was twenty-two, his desire to be noticed was starting to come true.
Although he actively pursued fame, he had an ambivalent relationship with it. He fought often with galleries and dealers whom he felt were shafting him. When critics gave him bad reviews, he suspected (probably correctly at times) that racism was behind it. It was hard for some people to understand his art. Basquait was influenced by many things, including children’s art and other artists influenced by children’s art, like Jean Dubuffet and Cy Twombly. Music had a huge impact on his work: jazz, blues and rap in particular. His Haitian and Puerto Rican ancestry infused his work as well: Voodoo, vibrant colors, Caribbean and African culture. He used cartoons, symbols, words and cheap materials roughly cobbled together at times. It was a curious overlay to the sophisticated, elegant and intelligent artwork he made. For good measure, he’d add lists of battles and figures from antiquity, knowledge he picked up from his extensive reading and travels. It’s easy to see why more traditional critics would dislike his work and believe he lacked sophistication. There is no doubt that he possessed an ability to produce art that was not only totally new and unique, but as meaningful and graceful as other great art throughout history.
As his career progressed and he made more money, Basquiat began abusing drugs heavily. It seems he found fame and fortune lacking. Collectors clamoring for his works did not equate real love. His friendships, unsurprisingly, suffered as his addiction worsened. One friendship he did maintain was with Andy Warhol. They worked out, made art and had long philosophical discussions. They were extremely different artists, but somehow their personalities complimented each other.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was full of joy, curiosity and intelligence. He was an American original who stirred together wonderful elements of culture and experience, who used humor and scholarship to make very personal and meaningful art. The criticism stung, but didn’t effect his personal vision or self-confidence. He believed in what he did and the worth of it. His friend, artist Keith Haring said: “(He was) the supreme poet: every gesture symbolic, every action an event.” In 1987, when his best friend Andy Warhol suddenly and prematurely died, Basquiat was shattered. He died a year later of a drug overdose. What art did we miss out on, losing him at such a young age? He made an incredible body of work in his short life, and in it future generations will see who Jean-Michel Basquiat was: an American master who brought seemingly contradictory elements together in a way no artist ever had. He opened up inroads for future artists with his embrace of tradition, personal vision, innocence and elegance.
©2016 Alice DuBois
For More Information See:
- "Jean-Michel Basquiat" Published by Tony Shafrazi Gallery 1999
- "Jean-Michel Basquiat" By Richard Marshall, Whitney Museum Of American Art 1993
- "Basquiat" Motion Picture by Julian Schnabel 1996
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