Jean-Michel Basquiat 1960–1988

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a prolific figure of the 1980s New York art scene rising quickly to fame at a young age before leaving behind a dynamic legacy. Born in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage he was raised fluent in French, Spanish, and English. The melding of traditions and odes to African-Caribbean heritage would later become reoccurring themes in his neo-expressionistic body of work. Basquiat showed an interest in art at a young age frequently visiting the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York among other institutions with his mother.

By 1979, Basquiat was becoming a recognized figure for his graffiti emblazing the Lower East Side with classmate Al Diaz who together formed the creative collaboration SAMO. At the age of seventeen, Basquiat dropped out of school altogether to pursue his career in art. He began selling hand-painted postcards and t-shirts near the steps of the Museum of Modern Art, New York while becoming immersed in the city's art scene in the same year forming a relationship and collaboration with Keith Haring. Basquiat’s first exhibition was a group show in 1980 titled the Times Square Show presenting the downtown and uptown avant-garde works with artists such as Jenny Holzer and Kenny Scharf.

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