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JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT

Jean Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 in New York. The family lived in Brooklyn where his father worked as an accountant while his mother
was deeply interested in art. He often had to accompany his mother to various art exhibitions. His parents enjoyed it financially
good and the only thing that bothered him during growing up was his father's fierce mood and his mother's ever-increasing mental
illness. In school he was a gifted pupil and his language skills became quite extensive through the origins of his parents. He spoke
in addition to English also fluent French and Spanish. At age 17, the abuses in the home became too great and he dropped out
school and moved away from home. He then spent most of his time in Manhattan where he lived temporarily with friends or in parks.
He devoted himself to drawing postcards, which he sold. At one point, he bumped into Andy Warhol, who he sold a couple of postcards to. This
became the beginning of a deep friendship and sharing of artist ideas. They worked together for periods. In the 80s he had seriously established
himself as an artist and participated In a big exhibition, Time Square Show, together with Keith Haring. That he was black did not simplify
his artistry, but racism became something he used in his art. See the work Irony of negro policeman eg. He meant
that black citizens resolved with their absence in art and that it was a direct reflection of their diminished position in society.
His design language is shown through symbols, diagrams, line drawings and text strips. The skull and the crown are recurring in the motives.
Basquiat suffered from abuse problems throughout his adult life and in 1988 he was found dead in his apartment. His artistry managed, despite his short career
to influence the international art scene and one of his works was sold in 2017 for $ 110 million.

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