Basquiat - Basic Art Series, Book

From the streets of New York to the walls of its most important galleries, follow the short, prolific and politicised career of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a cult figure of artistic social commentary. This introduction explores the young artist's inspirations, and his striking works filled with visceral and colourful imagery.

An icon of 1980s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) first made his name under the graffiti tag "SAMO", before establishing his studio practice and catapulting to rapid fame at the age of 20. Although his career only lasted a decade, he remains an inescapable figure of artistic social commentary and a pioneer in the mediation of graffiti and gallery art. Basquiat's work drew on diverse sources to create an original and urgent artistic vocabulary, criticising power structures and racism. His practice fused abstraction and figuration, poetry and painting, while his influences encompassed Greek, Roman and African art, French poetry, jazz and the work of contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly. The results are vivid and visceral mixtures of words, African emblems, cartoon figures and splashes of strong colour.

This book presents Basquiat's short but prolific career, his unique style and his deep engagement with ever-relevant issues of integration and segregation, poverty and wealth.