Basquiat

Jean- Michel Basquiat Film Review

            Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother.  Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was a creative and inspired artist even as a child.  He could read, write, and speak three languages by the age 11.

            Basquiat moved with his father to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974.  Basquiat ran away during their time there and he slept on the benches in Washington Central Park.  Basquiat was arrested while there, and eventually was on the streets. He sold t-shirts top keep himself alive.

            Basquiat stated doing graffiti with his friends Al Diaz and Shannon Dawson.  The SAMO identity was born out of this.  SAMO was short for “same old shit” and his work was instantly recognizable and popular around New York.  In 1979, he spray-painted "SAMO is Dead" on buildings in SoHo, marking the ends of his grafitti campaign.

       Basquiat died of a drug overdose August 12, 1988.

      While i respect Basquiat's work, I dont like it. I've never liked art that is presented in such an abstract manner. To me, all of his art looked klike mediocre children's paintings. Perhaps that was his goal, in which case, good job for him. But i can't ever see myself hanging a Basquiat in my house.