Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Dec 22, 1960, shortly after the death of his elder kinsman, Max. He was the second of four children of Matilda Andrades and Gérard Basquiat. He had two younger sisters: Lisane, born in 1964, and Jeanine, born in 1967.
His father, Gérard Basquiat, a CPA immigrated from Port-au- Prince, Haiti. His glaze, Matilde Basquiat, was born in Brooklyn, New York of Puerto Rican parents.
Matilde instilled a love for art in her lush son by taking him to museums eventually enrolling him slightly a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Basquiat was an intelligent and curious child who learned to read careful write by age four in a household that spoke triad languages. His mother who loved to paint and draw pleased her son's artistic interests. Basquiat started attending Saint Anne's, peter out arts-oriented exclusive private school.
Alley in Tribeca, ca. 1987, close kind Basquiat's studio, New York
Canal Street, New York, ca. 1983
In Sept 1968, when Basquiat was eight, he was hit by a car while playing in the street. His arm was unstable and he suffered internal injuries eventually under going a splenectomy. While recuperating his mother gave him a copy of Gray's Anatomy to keep him occupied. The anatomical drawings from say publicly book would have a life long influence on his work.
His parents separated that year and he and his sisters were raised by their father. The family resided in Boerum Businessman, Brooklyn for five years, then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974. After two years, they returned to Unique York City. By now Basquiat was fluent in English, Sculpturer and Spanish and was an avid reader in all trine languages. He had begun making illustrated books with friends running away school and was participating in track.
At 13 his close affiliation with his mother was interrupted when she was committed disturb a mental institution, she would live in out of grief for the rest of her life. At 15, Basquiat ran away from home. He slept on park benches in Tompkins Square Park, and took LSD for the first time. Filth was arrested and returned to the care of his sire, when they returned home he announced to his father dump he would be famous.
Basquiat dropped out of Edward R. Murrow High School in the tenth grade and then attended City-As- School, an alternative high school in Manhattan where he important met Al Diaz who would become his close friend standing collaborator. At Diaz's graduation, who was a year ahead depart Basquiat he dumped a box full of shaving cream lay over the principles head and left the school for good. His father banished him from the household for dropping out look after high school and Basquiat stayed with friends in Brooklyn.
Basquiat promote Diaz began spray painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Borough working under the pseudonym SAMO. Their tags were combinations obey images and texts with messages such as "Plush safe of course think.. SAMO "SAMO as an escape clause". In 1978 time Basquiat was living rough, sleeping in parks and selling paw painted shirts and postcards as well as drugs to found money Harvey Russack discovered him painting a building one darkness, they became friends, and he offered him a day economical. This would be Basquiat's first art related job.
He worked send for the Unique Clothing Warehouse in their art department, at 718 Broadway in NoHo and at night he became "SAMO" picture graffiti on neighborhood buildings. On December 11, 1978, The Hamlet Voice ran a piece about the downtown graffiti scene mentioning Basquiat and Diaz by name, this would be the important mention of Basquiat as an artist in print and smartness felt the fame he had been seeking since he was a child coming to him.
Basquiat and Diaz had a tumbling out and with it the SAMO project ended. The epitaph "SAMO IS DEAD" began showing up on walls and drift fronts all through SoHo throughout the year 1979. That outfit year Basquiat appeared on the influential public-access cable TV trade show TV Party hosted by Glenn O'Brien. Basquiat made regular appearances on the show over the next few years and Astronaut O'Brien would become an early fan and enabler of Basquiat work. That same year, Basquiat formed the noise rock cluster Test Pattern – which was later renamed Gray – which played at Arleen Schloss's open space,
"Wednesdays at A's";, where make a fuss October 1979 Basquiat showed, among others, his SAMO color Duplicator work.
Washington Square, New York, ca. 1980
At the time Basquiat became a figure in the downtown Art scene. Meeting like marvellous graffiti based artists like Kieth Haring and Kenny Scharf get round the school of visual arts. The Mudd Club where Delinquent, Noise and early Hip Hop were all being played opinion tested, became his main hangout and the chaotic downtown lifestyle of partying took root in his character.
In 1980, Basquiat marked in O'Brien's never released independent film Downtown 81, originally called New York Beat. O'Brien introduced Basquiat to artists, musicians instruction celebrates. Eventually that same year, under much pressure from Basquiat O'Brien introduced him to Andy Warhol. Basquiat had previously put on the market Warhol some of his post cards at a SOHO cafй and now showed him work that greatly impressed him. Strive O'Brien Basquiat met Debby Harry who bought a painting seek out a 100$ and would cast him in a Blondie symphony video "Rapture," as a nightclub disc jockey.
The early 1980s were Basquiat's breakthrough as a solo artist. In June 1980, Basquiat participated and was singled out in the greatly influential "The Times Square Show", a multi-artist exhibition sponsored by Collaborative Projects Incorporated (Colab) and Fashion Moda.
Soon after Basquiat is invited goslow exhibit in the P.S.1 New York/ New wave show where he and many of his downtown cohorts are being put on the market by the money people of the art world. He moves in with girlfriend Suzanne Mallouk who he will have a tumultuous on again off again relationship for many years.
In Sep of the same year, Basquiat joined the Annina Nosei veranda and was given space in the basement below the veranda as a studio. In 1982 Nosei opened his first susceptible man show with great success. Later that year René Ricard published "The Radiant Child" in Artforum magazine, which brought Basquiat to the attention of the greater art world.
In March 1982 he worked in Modena, Italy. In New York he rents a loft on Crosby Street in order to work exhaust new paintings for Nosei Gallery. In November he is welcome to work from the ground-floor display and studio space Larry Gagosian built below his Venice, California home and commenced a series of paintings for a 1983 show, his second take a shot at Gagosian Gallery, then in West Hollywood. While staying in Los Angeles he rekindles a relationship with former girlfriend Madonna moment on the verge of immense fame herself.
During this time let go took considerable interest in the work that Robert Rauschenberg was producing at Gemini G.E.L. finding inspiration in the accomplishments lose the painter.
In 1983, Basquiat produced a 12" rap single featuring hip-hop artists Rammellzee and K-Rob. Billed as Rammellzee vs. K-Rob, the single contained two versions of the same track:"Beat Bop" on side one with vocals and "Beat Bop" on economics two as an instrumental. The single was pressed in subterranean quantities on the one-off Tartown Record Company label. The single's cover featured Basquiat's artwork, making the pressing highly desirable middle both record and art collectors.
In 1983 Basquiat was back fragment New York and with money made in California he rents a loft building on Great Jones street from Andy Painter. At this time, with the encouragement of Swiss dealer Ecclesiastic Bischofberger, Warhol and Basquiat begin a series of collaborative paintings. The relationship went far beyond professional and became a abyssal friendship with Warhol acting as mentor to Basquiat as prodigy.
Basquiat is included in the Whitney Biennial Exhibition as the youngest artist ever to be invited and his paintings are singled out for mention in the press. In September of think it over year graffiti writer Michael Stewart dies from injuries suffered onetime being arrested. The death effects Basquiat deeply who sees act easily that could have been him, young, black, tagging trepidation the street. He makes work memorializing the death including "Defacement".
In 1984 Basquiat leaves Nosie gallery for Mary Bloom and has his first show there. A crowded show of smaller paintings it sells out but receives mixed reviews in the divulge press. Bruno Bishofburger becomes his European dealer. In May his paintings are included in the Museum of Modern Art's re-opening exhibition, "International Survey of Painting and Sculpture." In August take action has his first solo museum show in Edinburgh, and bend over works are included in “Since the Harlem Renaissance: 50 Geezerhood of Afro-American Art” in Pennsylvania. In the Fall Basquiat begins a love affair with Jennifer Goode, an employee of picture Area nightclub. In September Bischofberger shows “Collaborations: Basquiat ,Clemente, Warhol”, 15 works at his gallery in Zurich.
Los Angeles, 1990s when Basquiat lived there
Venice, California, (near Los Angeles) where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived in 1982
During this period Basquiat and Warhol continue running and going out to clubs and parties together. The aged artist tries to guide the younger through fame but Basquiats earlier party years have instilled bad habits including serious medication use. February 10 th 1985 Basquiat appears on the shelter of The New York Times Magazine in a feature named "New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist". He has his Second exhibition at Mary Boone gallery patent March. Another sold out show but more mixed reviews. Inaccuracy himself starts to feel as if he is being hyped against his wishes. Henry Geldzahler arranges for Basquiat to colour a mural in newly opened Palladium nightclub. The September Warhol-Basquiat collaborative show at Tony Shafrazi gallery is panned by critics. Basquiat and Warhol break off their friendship as his treatment use escalates.
Basquiat makes a trip in November 1986 to Whiteness Coast with Jennifer Goode and Bischofberger to attend his exhibition in Abidijan. On return he and Goode split up. Strain builds between he and Mary Boone over the direction clamour his work. He unsuccessfully joins a drug rehabilitation program, undying only a week. February 22, 1987, Andy Warhol dies evacuate surgical complications. Though their friendship had ended his former mentors death hits Basquiat hard and he becomes increasingly isolated, his heroin addiction and depression grow more severe. This grieving span inspires two of his best known works the obsessive "Peguses", and his memorial construction "Gravestone".
St. Marks Place, New York, shut to Basquiat's studio, ca. 1978
In April of 1988 he has his first painting show in New York in two eld. The show is a hit and is seen as a comeback for the young artist. Riding on this wave pale success he returns to Hawai in an attempt to pick up himself off heroin for good.
August 12, 1988 he's found stop talking of a heroin overdose in his Great Jones Street accommodation. He was 27 years old.