Biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat - Essay Example

Jean-michel Basquiet Art Directory, un d, Jean-michel Basquiat Jean-michel Basquiat is an artist who falls between two stools in that he was American born, but black, and the child of Caribbean parents, and has been claimed as a black Caribbean artist. He was New York born in 1960, having a Puerto Rican mother, Matilde, and a Haitian father, Bernard ( Hoban 1998, chapter 2), but ran away from what Simek ( 2010) described as a black middle class home at a very young age, something he rejected ( Etier, 2010). He was in the first instance a graffiti artist on the lower East side of Manhattan, and a writer whose career began in the 1970s. His artistic out-put was later described as Neo-Expressionism ( Etier, 2010), defined as :- A revival of expressionism in art characterized by intense colors, dramatic usually figural forms, and emotive subject matter (Merriam-Webster, 2014). Although he no longer lived on the streets in his later years, the graffiti influence was always there in Basquiat’s works, as was evidence of his place as part of the African diaspora. He was also a drug user and often the works were also created under the influence of drugs. His work moved on from pure graffiti into other areas, so he became hard to fit into just one category. His work ‘Flexible’(1984) has been called ‘a bridge between traditional tribal art, graffiti art and modern socio-political propaganda ‘ and so crosses many boundaries (Rakaa 2013) or acts to give these differing genres some unity. Basquiat was precocious, in that his artistic genius flourished and was recognised very early when he was still in his early twenties, especially after he participated in a joint exhibition alongside other young artists of the time in 1980 ( Brooklyn Museum, 2014), but his artistic life, his whole life, ended with his early tragic death in 1988, still in his twenties. He was considered black, yet had few black friends, and according to Hoban, did not want to be known as a black artist, but as a famous artist. With that end in mind he was driven to produce thousands of images, not only on conventional surfaces such as canvas, card and paper, but also on the easily available surfaces of a variety of found objects, such as refrigerator doors, book margins and elsewhere ( Brooklyn Museum, 2014). The word Graffiti most commonly refers to writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illegally on a surface in a public place. It can also be said to refer to a style or group of styles, even if produced licitly, as for instance to decorate a youth centre on even on line as in Graffiti Creator ( undated) . Some people think the art form began in New York in the late 1960s, whereas others associate it with the Second World War, but it is much older than that, going back many thousands of years, probably as long as there have been walls and sticks. In Italian the word means scribble, but this is derived from Ancient Greek graphein, which means to scratch, draw or write (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2014). Although by no means exclusively so, the genre is strongly associated with gangs, with many gang members marking their territory with their particular signature or tag, which is often immediately over painted by members of an opposing group. According to Walker (2013) “ Gang graffito, the singular of graffiti, is often the first indication that street gangs are active in your community.” This means that for the majority population it has negative connotations, as they naturally don’t want gang warfare in their area. Just as the Impressionists arose to a great degree simply because of easy access to easily transportable tube paints in the mid 19th century, so the easy availability of spray paint cans, and the accuracy with which these can be manipulated, as well as the street gang culture, has allowed this art form to flourish from the 1960’s onwards. Basquiat’s career as an artist began in 1978 when Basquiat, together with his friend Al Diaz, began his artistic career by becoming a graffiti sprayer in his home city, New York. His tag line was "SAMO", which stood for "Same old Shit" ( Art Directory , undated). At the same time he was making a living by selling t-shirts and painted postcards. He began to make sculptures or assemblages, from scrap materials as well as applying his unique and authentic painting style to paper and canvas .He has been quoted as saying he was more than just a run of the mill spray can sprayer in that he said ‘Believe it or not I can actually draw.’ (The estate of Jean–michel Basquiat, 2011). As quoted by Hoban (1998) his friend, fellow artist Arden Scott said, "Basquiat was intent upon being a mainstream artist. He didnt want to be a black artist. He wanted to be a famous artist. His works have been described as ‘dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work’ IMDB, 2011). These dramatic pieces soon came to the attention of the more main stream New York art scene when he participated in the 1980 Jean- "Times Square Show". In 1981 critic René Ricard published the article "The Radiant Child" in the magazine "Artforum". Basquiat’s breakthrough as an artist, accepted as such by the mainstream artistic world, finally takes place when he participates in the exhibition "New York / New Wave" in the P.S.1. the same year, 1981,at which time he was only 21. Basquiat met both Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, artists who find their inspiration in the graffiti scene, as well in cartoons, advertisements, cartoons and other Americana ( Paul Kasmin Gallery 2014) . According to the Art Directory (undated) he became a star overnight, but, as with so many other ‘overnight stars’ this was of course after years of work. He also met leading pop artist Andy Warhol in 1984. They became friends, but Warhol, a highly successful artist, also became Basquait’s patron. There were a number of collaborative projects involving the two men over time, but , according to the Brooklyn Museum ( 2014) the critics did not receive these with any real enthusiasm. Basquiat’s work was however well received outside his homeland. In Germany he had a number of exhibitions at major galleries, and in many cases would be the youngest artist up to that point to have done so. The works often show African influences of course and the Brooklyn Museum ( 2014) reports that Basquiat made a number of trips to that continent and his works were exhibited in Cote d’Ivore. Basquiat has died and it therefore falls to art experts to authenticate his work, as he very rarely signed pieces. However in February 2012 Sotheby’s, the art auctioneers, discovered a hidden signature on one of his pieces. It was revealed by exposing the piece to ultra violet light (The estate of Jean–michel Basquiat, 2014). The article does not tell us if this was a rarity or a regular occurrence. His death in his apartment at 57 Great Jones Street, was very definitely drug induced, and he was found with empty syringes all round. According to Hoban ( 1998) Basqiuat had claimed to be using up to a hundred doses of heroin each day. The autopsy reported that Basquiat had died from an over dose or recreational drugs, an "acute mixed drug intoxication (opiates-cocaine)." Only family and a few friends were invited to the funeral , but there were many art dealers there according to Hoban (1998, chapter 1) who quotes his housekeeper Blanca Martinez as having observed that:- They were all standing separately, as if it were an obligation. They didnt seem to care. Some looked ashamed. Perhaps they did not know how to deal with genius. At the wake which followed the funeral someone recited a poem by Langston Hughes:- This is a song for the genius child. Sing it softly, for the song is wild. Sing it softly as ever you can--lest the song get out of hand. Nobody loves a genius child. Can you love an eagle, tame or wild? Wild or tame, can you love a monster, of frightening name? Nobody loves a genius child. Free [sic] him and let his soul run wild. Famous world –wide from the age of 23 (Brooklyn Museum, 2014) , and dead only four years later, Basquiat ‘s work has outlived him ( Art Net.Com) and is on public sale even to this day, as well as being exhibited in many public galleries, both in his home city of New York , but also in places as far afield as Tokyo and Paris. Famous at last, but would his work be so valuable if he were still alive, a middle-aged man still producing, perhaps at a somewhat slower rate? According to Rakaa ( 2013), yes, because he can be aligned alongside Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was still producing new and innovative things in his final days, in his tenth decade. This statement can be justified in that both broke through conventional ideas about what constituted art. Both also had African influences, yet despite Basquiat’s heritage he was not actually African, any more than Picasso was. Picasso’s interest in African tribal art was said to have been inspired after seeing a tribal mask shown to him by Henri Matisse ( Rakaa, 2013) Both men were subject to many influences as well as influencing in their turn the wider artistic world. Basquiat influenced, and was influenced by, Andy Warhol and the pop art movement, but was also aware of African art in part via his heritage from the Caribbean, but remember too that he was based in New York with its many great museums, as well as smaller galleries, and also the graphic art all around from businesses large and small. It is also known that Picasso was a direct influence, especially his important work ‘Guernica’ from 1937 ( Rakaa, 2013). He actually describes him as a successor to Picasso who had died in 1973, right at the beginning of Baquiat’s career ( Rakaa, 2013). Picasso though came from an artistic family and developed out of traditional art, a style he followed in his early years, having begun to paint seriously when only eight years old. At that time, the 1890s, children were expected to copy nature as exactly as they could, but as he matured Picasso began to make his own decisions about style and what constituted art. Basquiat in his turn developed a very unique style, but with many influences, and, unlike Picasso, he never went through conventional processes in art school, and of course he had recourse to new materials. So these two have links, and both have been described as precocious and geniuses, but arrived at their distinctive styles along very different routes. Simik described the work of Basquiat ( 2010) as ‘short, deliberate, assured, wild, vivid, and full of a sense of significance.’ Words, which could perhaps be applied to Picasso, especially in his adult,later periods. Picasso however went to a traditional art school, whereas Basquiat’s school was the streets of New York. Most people have heard of Picasso, and probably fewer have heard of Basquiat, but their styles, varied as they are, do have similarities and both are still valuable to the art market. What both men did was re-invent themselves, not just once but several times. Picasso had more opportunity to do this with a career that lasted for 80 years. Like Basquiat he had many influences, in his case this included the Spanish Civil War. Both artists were prolific, although Picasso was able to do this over an extended period. His blue period lasted three years from 1901 – 1904, and his later Cubist period lasted longer, from 1907 – 1915 giving time for real development. Time was not a luxury Basquiat had, yet he produced over 1000 paintings and another 1000 drawings during one much shorter period. The creators of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition of his work ( 2014) describe his creation of pictures as compulsive. Where did this compulsion come from? One idea is that it came out of his reading of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ a great illustrated work given to him when he was hospitalized after a car accident. His artistic streak though spread beyond art into music when he formed the band Gray in 1979 ( Brooklyn Museum, 2014). Picasso seems to have coped with fame, mixing with celebrities when he wanted to, and getting on with his work whatever, but Basquiat did not. Etier reports that ( November 2010) as his fame increased and his works sold for higher and higher prices, ‘with success came a little paranoia.’. He was not used to having plenty of money. He became quite distrustful of people’s motives, even those close to him. His mentor, the considerably older Andy Warhol, though he could be sure wasn’t after his money, having great wealth of his own. Not being used to wealth, Basquiat wasn’t sure whom he could trust, which had a negative effect upon relationships. Then Warhol died suddenly in 1987 ( McGill, 1987) when he had a heart attack in the night after a relatively routine operation. Already using heroin, and feeling friendless, isolated and depressed, Basquait at first retreated to his ranch in Maui for a month, although he continued to exhibit his works in his home city of New York. Jean-Michel Basquiat died only a month later in 1988 of an overdose, at the age of only 27. One wonders did he know of the poem ‘Genius Child’, used at his funeral in Brooklyn, which ends :- Nobody loves a genius child. Kill him - and let his soul run wild.( Langston Hughes, quoted by Etier, 2010). His work lives on, just as Picasso’s is, in that it is relatively easy to recognise, widely available, both in its original form and in prints, but also, more recently, in the form of textiles based upon his works (Basquiat Couture,2014) . It is harder to say what he was trying to say in such a multiplicity of works, although there are definite themes of justice, cultural heritage, heroes and identity. Often his work includes dichotomies such as riches versus poverty, integration as opposed to segregation, and inner mind versus outer experience. He used poetry together with drawing and painting, being able to marry text and image, putting abstract images against more conventional figures. The present exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum states that there is no one definitive interpretation of his work. Perhaps that is the fascination. References Basquiat Couture, Facebook. 2014, retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=377988742268318&set=a.302903389776854.72292.123853934348468&type=1&theater , accessed 17th February 2014 Brooklyn Museum , Basquiat timeline, Morgan Chase, 2014, retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/basquiat/street-to-studio/english/whobasquiat.php Etier, B., Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child Focuses on an Artist’s Short Life. A View from the ID, 9th November 2014, retrieved from http://technorati.com/entertainment/film/article/jean-michel-basquiat-the-radiant-child/, accessed 17th February 2014 Graffiti Creator, undated, retrieved from http://graffiticreator.net/, accessed 15th February 2014 Hoban, P. , Basquiat, A Quick killing in Art, 1998, retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hoban-basquiat.html, accessed 17th February 2014 Hughes, L., The Genius Child , quoted by Etier, B., Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child Focuses on an Artist’s Short Life. 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Jean-Michel Basquiat Explores the Life of a Rare Talent, Front Row Blog, D., August 20th 2010, retrieved from http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2010/08/what-makes-a-genius-tick-jean-michel-basquiat-explores-the-life-of-a-rare-talent/ accessed 15th February 2014 The estate of Jean–michel Basquiat, 2011, retrieved from http://basquiat.com/ accessed 15th February 2014 Walker, R., Gangs or Us, 2014, retrieved from http://www.gangsorus.com/graffiti.html, accessed 15th February 2014 Read More