Jean-Michel Basquiat
By River Robinson
The artist I chose to write my paper on is Jean-Michel Basquiat. An artist, a
visual, a creator, an icon, Basquiat was a number of things. Jean-Michel Basquiat was
born in Brooklyn, New York, he is of Puerto Rican and Haitian descent, so his culture
played a major part in his influences. As an autodidact and a craftsman, Basquiat
started drawing at an early age on sheets of paper his dad brought home from the
workplace.
As he dove further into his inventive side, his mother urged him to seek after his
creative abilities. In the late 70’s, he started to gain attention as a street artist, under the
pseudonym SAMO. With the help of a friend, he tagged buildings and subways all
throughout New York, especially Manhattan. In 1977, Basquiat quit high school a year
prior to graduation. To make money, he sold sweatshirts and postcards that featured his
works of art in the city.
After a three year drought, Basquiat started to gain fame and notoriety. In 1980,
a painting by Basquiat was featured in a group show. His work and style recieved praise
for the combination of words, figures, and symbols. Before long, his creations came to
be loved by the public, whom had no issue paying as much as $50,000 for an original
painting by Basquiat. While he rose to the top, his art fell into the category of NeoExpressionism; alongside other young artists with experimental works, like Julian
Schanbel.
Circa 1985, Basquiat met and became acquainted with Andy Warhol. Warhol
was already a well known artist, who was known for pop art. Some say Warhol fell in
love with not only Basquiat’s work, but Basquiat as well. Unfortunately for Warhol the
love was unrequited. On the bright side, together the two formed a powerful friendship
and a creative duo. Creating works like “Third Eye” and other works of art. Sadly the
public and the art world frowned upon the works of art the duo created. Sadly, two years
later, Warhol would die pass away, affecting Basquiat forever.
After the death of Warhol, Basquiat’s art took a dark turn. He always seemed to
be unhappy. Just like with any other artist, their true emotions will show in their work.
His work was no longer bright and happy. It seemed dark and gloomy, Jean-Michel had
entered a state of deep depression. While distraught over the feelings of the art world
lacking to acknowledge his work, the death of Warhol just augmented his depressions
and emotions. Basquiat started abusing drugs heavily, and started losing most of his
friends. All of these combined and make Jean-Michel Basquiat, a sad, misunderstood,
individual. After a series of unfortunate events, the final was the overdose of Basquiat.
He overdosed on speedball, a mix of cocaine and heroin.
A piece of art I am fond of by Jean-Michel Basquiat is the piece “Notary” It
portrays a multitude of colors with a wide range of hues and tints of those colors, blood
red to salmon, or peach to terracotta, etc. Essentially it also has signature style, of
somewhat abstract with many words on the art, including the name of it. The painting
also has a skeleton and a skull in it, both of which, are very colorful. Jean-Michel
appears to reference Greek and Roman mythology in this painting, with the word “Pluto”
on it multiple times, as well as the phrase “Buckle, Roman Bronze.” At that point, it can
be viewed as the summation of how Basquiat considered himself to be he united his
inventive accomplishments. After mastering his skills, Basquiat uncovered the
profundity of his own sentiment in the work. The art piece welcomes the watcher to
stimulate the mind, proposing the thoughtfulness of an individual defied by agony and
enduring. Notary was truly a cry out for help from a tortured soul.
As the content references LEECHES, FLEAS, and PARASITES who are bound
to DEHYDRATE, and lessen the FLESH of this MALE TORSO, it likewise demonstrates
Basquiat’s imperativeness and vitality being constantly tested by life-depleting life
forms, those of which were draining his energy. Notary worries about the darker parts of
human presence, as recommended by no less than four references to the Greek divine
force of the hell, Pluto.
In this way, as much as Notary uncovers the craftsman's profound adventure, it
likewise uncovered the situations and entanglements along his way. Notary can be
viewed as Basquiat's depiction of his own internal turmoil—his thinking about the logical
inconsistencies between an acknowledgment of significant inward facts and the duties
going with open reputation — at the exact second that his specialty had gotten open
acknowledgment and market esteem, he no longer wanted it. Consequently the
uncertain, and possibly contrite quote that was obtained from U.S. cash: THIS NOTE
FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC + PRIVATE.