Jean-Michel Basquiat (French: [ʒɑ̃ miʃɛl baskja]; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.

Basquiat’s art focused on dichotomies such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique. He used social commentary in his paintings as a tool for introspection and for identifying with his experiences in the Black community of his time, as well as attacks on power structures and systems of racism. His visual poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle.

Since Basquiat’s death at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose in 1988, his work has steadily increased in value. At a Sotheby’s auction in May 2017, Untitled, a 1982 painting by Basquiat depicting a black skull with red and yellow rivulets, sold for $110.5 million, becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever purchased. It also set a new record high for an American artist at auction.

Video Reflection Example

Acrylic Transfer Process

Example Project

Project Goal:

Create a list of 5 or more things that worry, upset, or anger you. Collect, print, or create 3 or more images of positive things that make you feel good & give your strength. Cut up your list of words and glue down on illustration board and create an over-painting leaving the layer underneath visible in some areas using a variety of painting techniques (thick, thin, & transfer).

Is it something you like now? If not layer over it again & again until it is.

What does it mean? Complete the video reflection on your work using the question guide each day of the project.