Jean-Michel Basquiat, A Radiant Child

Jean-Michel Basquiat portrait by James Van Der Zee, 1982. A man with a cat.




I have always liked the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) but must admit I really knew very little about him, having been shrouded by the myth of this artist who died when he was only 27 years old. Last week I happened to catch the PBS showing of the documentary by Tamra Davis, Radiant Child, which left me a little more enlightened and a little more sad for this remarkable, but too short life.

A 17 year old Basquiat left his middle class home to began living on the streets of New York, quickly gaining notoriety as Samo (as in "same o' shit"), the graffiti artist. Some in the art world speculated that the mysterious Samo may actually be an old woman, which speaks to the nature of the philosophy left on the streets by this teenager with a soul that defied his years. But in the early 1980's, Samo "died" and Basquiat was born, selling out his first art show on it's first night with $200,000 sales. The 80's art world, like much of that era, seemed defined by fame and greed, and Basquiat struggled between the desire for success and the limits that a life as a celebrity often brings. His world seemed filled with extreme contradictions. He would enter a New York club where he was the center of attention, the mega-star of the art world, only to leave and find that the cab drivers would not stop for him on the street. He felt frustrated with the critics who described him as a genius yet chose ethnic descriptions of his work rather than looking at the concepts, using words such as "primitive, primal, and child-like." He was a prolific artist, giving some of his art away as gifts to friends, and later feeling betrayed by them as they sold the pieces at auction when he became famous. He ended up lonely, addicted to heroin, without anyone to guide him through it all to safety. He died at age 27 of a heroin overdose, shortly after the unexpected death of his estranged best friend, Andy Warhol. Langston Hughes' poem, Genius Child was read by a friend at Basquiat's funeral...."nobody loves a genius child, kill him-and let his soul run wild."

Jean-Michel Basquiat is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century with a recent painting selling at auction for 14.5 million, yet I wonder how many people know his work. There is a difference in Basquiat's art that I love, a difference which makes some people uncomfortable. When you look at his art, it takes you a step back from your own feelings, from your need for an instant personal connection, and instead you are granted a glimpse inside a fascinating mind with a mysterious and important story to tell. Before you know it, you are engaged in a dialogue with this artist. The words in the paintings are both text and visual images in themselves, and they are the clues. According to Basquiat, he marks through them to make you want to read them more. The story was "given" to him, he needs to share it with you, and it is well worth the time to uncover it. As Basquiat himself has said, "it is the story of royalty, heroism, and the streets."

This is Basquiat's work, In Italian.