Ten things that made Jean-Michel Basquiat an art icon

In the 1970s and 80s, the neighborhood of Brooklyn, where Jean-Michel Basquiat grew up, was predominantly inhabited by a socially disadvantaged, often Black population and had deteriorated into a desolate ghetto. In stark contrast was the wealthy, white northern part of Manhattan (Upper Manhattan or Uptown), where the bulk of the galleries were located during this period. The established art scene at the time was anything but diverse, dominated by white people, difficult for people of color to access - whether as visitors, gallery owners, or artists. Many creative artists from Brooklyn, Harlem, or downtown were therefore looking for their own cultural expression and found it in street art and hip-hop culture. Jean-Michel Basquiat contradicted this social and racist dichotomy of cultures, because he did not want to be forced into a cliché, but to go his own way as an artist. This may have been one of the reasons that catapulted him into the New York art scene within a very short time.

After Picasso's most famous work was shown at the Paris World's Fair and in numerous countries in northern Europe, it arrived in the USA in 1939. At the artist's request, the painting was not to be returned to Spain until the country became a republic; until then, it initially remained in New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Although a constitutional monarchy was instituted in Spain after Franco's death, the painting went to the Prado in 1981 and to the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, in 1992.
Jean-Michel Basquiat thus had the chance to see the painting at MoMA as a child and young adult. As he told in several interviews, these museum visits with his mother had been groundbreaking for him and had a lasting impact on his understanding of art. In one interview, the artist told us that he himself had acquired a work by Picasso. However, he never explained what exactly it was about the style of the Spanish artist that appealed to him. Perhaps it was the cubist dissection, the accentuated silhouettes of the figures, or was it the expressive ductus, which later can also be found in his works?

Long before Jean-Michel Basquiat became known as an established painter, he and his school friend Al Diaz were on the streets of New York as street artists SAMO© (short for »Same Old Shit«). Their graffiti could be found all over Harlem and was an integral part of the cityscape. Characteristic was the very individual typography (for example, with an E without a vertical line), with which the duo wrote notes, scraps of words, parts of poems and their own poetry on the walls, as well as the three-pointed crown, which Basquiat later adopted into his art like a recognition mark. The artist himself later did not want to be associated with graffiti art, because for him this form of expression was part of the hard life of the poor, Black population and thus contrasted with the glamorous life he aspired to. 

In the New York club scene of the 1970s, »Studio 54« in Uptown is the most legendary. The club is known for its excessive parties with drugs, glitter glamour and disco music, and stars such as Diana Ross, Truman Capote, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and Mick Jagger went in and out here. With the »Mudd Club«, founded in 1978, its founders, publicist Steve Mass and curator Diego Cortez, wanted to create a counterpart to  »Studio 54« downtown. They wanted to appear more creative and intellectual than the competition and reflect the diverse culture that surrounded the place. That's why artistic greats like Keith Harring, Andy Warhol and, of course, Jean-Michel Basquiat were welcome guests. Here, in a revolving gallery on the fourth floor, current artistic positions were shown together with experimental live music, New Wave or Punk. The club thus facilitated interdisciplinary collaborations and set no limits to the boundless creativity of its visitors. Jean-Michel Basquiat embodied precisely this creative spirit, letting himself be guided by the diversity of different media and the chaos of everyday impressions to create powerful works of art.

The basement of Annina Nossei's gallery was the nucleus of Basquiat's artistic beginnings. Starting in 1982, the artist produced paintings in his studio there at a breathtaking speed, some of them sold even before they were finished. But soon Jean-Michel Basquiat changed galleries and rented his own studio. 

In 1982 Basquiat met the then unknown musician and they became lovers for a few months. During this time the artist began to establish himself, only a few years after their relationship Madonna became famous with the hit »Like a Vergin« (1984). Although in the meantime both artists have achieved world fame, little is known about the relationship of the icons. The fact is that Basquiat's zeal for work left a great impression on Madonna and spurred her on, as she later explained in an interview.

Jean-Michel Basquiat caused an international sensation when he was exhibited in 1982 at the age of only 21 as (to this day) the youngest participant in a documenta. The show, under the curatorial direction of Rudi Fuchs, was devoted primarily to classical media such as painting and sculpture, and featured installations by such artistic greats as Joseph Boys and Claes Oldenburg. The fact that Basquiat was exhibited at such a young age shows how much importance was attached to his art even then.

Michael Stewart was an African-American street artist who was killed by police violence on September 28, 1983. The 25-year-old was taken into custody a few days earlier when he was caught by police applying graffiti. The trial following his death made waves, as the judiciary and police tried several times to cover up the murder as a natural cause and an accident.
In 1983, Jean-Michel Basquiat was 23 years old, almost the same age as Michael Stewart, also came from the street art scene and knew all too well the prejudices against people of color. It is therefore not surprising that the young artist was deeply moved by this brutal murder. Just a few weeks after Michael Stewart's death, Jean-Michel Basquiat created the painting In This Case. It shows the victim's beaten-up profile and is a memorial to the indiscriminate violence against people of color. Today, the painting is one of Basquiat's best known and most highly traded works.

The relationship between Basquiat and Warhol is probably one of the most legendary friendships between two artists until today. The two met in 1982, when Jean- Michel Basquiat was still painting T-shirts and postcards, selling them on the street for a few US dollars, and Andy Warhol was already an art legend. The age difference of over 30 years did not matter, an intimate relationship developed between the two artists that lasted over six years and they created joint works in Warhol's Factory. Both suddenly distanced themselves when the media speculated about their relationship in the mid-1980s and negative art reviews appeared several times. Nevertheless, Warhol's sudden death in 1986 was a great loss for Basquiat, from which he did not recover until his own passing the following year.

The idea behind the collaboration came from the gallery owner Bruno Bischofsberger, who pursued the goal of exchange and further development of the artists he represented. Three completely different worlds met in the approximately 175 works: not only is the age difference striking - Clemente was 31 at the time, Wahrhol 55, and at 23 Basquiat was still at the beginning of his career - the three artists also initially pursued different positions and techniques. Andy Wahrhol worked primarily with silkscreen at the time, Clemente painted quiet, surreal worlds, whereas Basquiat applied color loudly and spontaneously.
The collaboration called for each artist to make four paintings and a drawing. These then went to the next artist, who responded. The collaboration between Basquiat and Warhol was particularly fruitful, producing 23 collaborative works.

This series of examples makes it clear that Jean-Michel Basquiat's art would probably never have emerged with this intensity without the context of the New York 1980s, and it is closely linked to the decade. Nevertheless, the artist's work should not be understood as a relic of a bygone era, because the themes he works on (racism, social inequality, identity, etc.) are still relevant. By reacting to his environment with his personal, spontaneous way of expression, he made his works incomparable to this day.