The Revolutionary Paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat

[Music] the story of the tragic life of a painter is something heard so often that it almost becomes a concept engraved in the very art form whilst many have seen this as a sort of romantic shakespearean tragedy that is irresistible to muddy up with myths and embellishments i have personally always seen this as a genuine curse of having such creative genius whenever i hear of young talents in the media young as in barely 18 being expected to travel constantly work constantly meet expectations constantly and so on i can't help but feel genuinely concerned for the mental well-being of such people in the long run not to say anything bad will happen to all of them in fact i assume and hope they're being very well looked after but if the arts have taught us any hard truths is that often young artists have been unfairly exploited overworked or misunderstood and the saddest thing about it is that often creative people are also some of the most sensitive and most self-destructive people and although again the story has been told many times there is something particularly poignant to me as well as being a perfect example of fame exploiting creatives regarding the story of a groundbreaking american neo-artist jean-michel basquiat the man who produced these mysterious paintings consisting of scratches and scribbles of color strange diagrams various words letters and numbers meticulously placed in the constellation of imagery would be unlike anything the art world had yet seen and most importantly they would unveil a huge social flaw that up until his time was not yet discussed or resolved in the art world as well in a community that seemingly still clung onto the influence of caucasian european history and law by the 1980s jean-michel would in the most creative ways possible implement his roots into his work in an admirable effort to at last allow black culture to become part of art history although his legacy now has been globally influential possibly more than jean-michel would ever have imagined his life before his eventual untimely death age just 27 would be nothing short of heartbreaking although he obtained all the fame and money that he could have ever dreamed of it would still not be enough to achieve one thing that he wanted above all else which was for people to accept him although his fascinating career was sadly brief his whole story shines an invaluable light on how sensationalism can truly exploit the vulnerable and how irrefutably difficult it would be for a young talent in the 1980s to prove his significance and overturned misconceptions of him simply based on his background and the color of his skin today we explore the now what could be called revolutionary artwork of jean-michel basquiat [Music] welcome everyone before we get started i just wanted to quickly thank and introduce you to an exciting offer from today's video sponsor surfsharkvpn what i personally love about watching and making youtube videos is knowing that the content is 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advantage of their essential tools to watch online entertainment safely and with a 30-day money-back guarantee included there's virtually no risk in at least trying it out thank you again to surfshot for sponsoring this video and without further ado enjoy the video [Music] basquiat was born in 1960 on december 22nd in brooklyn new york to father jared basquiat who had immigrated from haiti and brooklyn-born mother matilda basquiat who was of puerto rican descent jean-michel was the second of four children he had two sisters and originally an older brother but who sadly would pass away shortly after sean michelle's birth as the boy grew older his sisters lee sam basquiat and janine herrera would recount john michelle being very energetic curious and at times even mischievous to name one example during a block party him and his sisters would be watching their mother cutting watermelon leading the cheeky young artist to be to turn to his sisters trying to encourage them to eat the watermelon seeds so that later they could quote sweat watermelon juice and all he had to do was stick your tongue out and drink watermelon juice all the time it goes to little surprise that even at his age his wild imagination was already beginning to erupt from him it would not be until his mother who had happened to be fond of the arts would take her son to visit the many local museums and galleries that the big city had to offer and basquiat would truly begin to become enamored by the world of art his mother would happily motivate her son to continue exploring his interest in art by encouraging him to draw the cartoons that he would watch on the tv by the time he was six years old he was already being privately educated at the arts oriented saint anne school in brooklyn heights it would seem he was practically destined from the start to be involved in art in some form or another but even at this time we would see our first early glimpses of what would truly define his style later on in his career but sadly it would come in a very traumatic way in 1968 barely a year after enrolling into saint anne's young basquiat would suddenly be hit by a car whilst he was playing on the street resulting in a broken arm and several internal injuries that would result in a splenectomy he was barely seven years old at the time with the discomfort of pain fear and loneliness his mother would visit and comfort her son providing him with a copy of grey's anatomy to keep him entertained not only did it keep him occupied though but it completely immersed him into a lifelong fascination with themes related to human anatomy medicine or hospitals which would frequently appear in many of his later masterpieces as if a harrowing incident of a car accident would not be enough to deeply wound jean michelle the same year he would later discover his parents were arranging to divorce unlike the relationship to his mother matilda his father's expectations of his children was somewhat more complicated especially for jean-michel gerard was not so keen on the arts as his wife and son were and essentially believed to be only key to success especially for a black man living in america is simply to conform to the already established white american system because an important business executive a lawyer accountant attorney and so on would be seen more worthy or acceptable a scenario that simply would not do for young jean-michel with a head full of far bigger dreams but regardless he and his sisters would remain under the care of their father following his divorce to matilda she would be distraught from the end of a marriage suffering from a nervous breakdown that would tragically lead to her to be committed to various psychiatric institutions for the rest of her life following this event as basquiat reached his teen years still broken and confused from a dramatic weight of his parents divorce and the effects that it had on his mother he became increasingly rebellious especially towards his strict and sometimes even violent father and sure enough outside of his broken family life he would encounter other like-minded individuals who shared his desire to unburden their inner pain with some kind of expressive outlet one such person would be his childhood friend al diaz whom he would eventually partner up with to begin basquiat's first step into art with their street art alias of samo a name originally used as a tongue-in-cheek abbreviation of a phrase same old the pair would begin spray painting in the lower manhattan areas displaying something practically unheard of within graffiti at this time in history where typically a graffiti artist would simply tag his or her name or pseudonym in a kind of hey look at me sort of fashion basquiat and diaz were instead displaying insightful and satirical poetry and phrases leaving a copyright symbol at the end of their alias by now although the vision in young jean michel's head of him being famous or at least respected was glowing brightly he did not see samo as the sole solution to fortune perhaps merely the first of many stepping stones to his goal but already attention and buzz would steadily pick up and circulate around the many appearances of samo on street walls however yet again the expectations of his father as well as his truancy and misbehavior at school would continue to be great obstacles when eventually in 1978 his father learned that 17 year old john michelle had dropped out of school entirely that was that the teenager would leave the household for good living rough for a good long while occasionally working in a warehouse and continuing to work on his graffiti at night things seemingly couldn't have looked more bleak for the young artist now living homeless and arguably one of the most hostile cities in america it would be nothing short of a miracle for this recent school dropout to even come close to famous success but little did he know in the background the media buzz and fascination and his spray painting endeavors were continuing to spread like wildfire [Music] as newspaper articles on a mysterious and increasingly popular duo samo began to mount up it would not be long until the village voice an alternative news weekly centered around the arts music and culture of the city would begin to take notice however as the success of samo had picked up pace the duo was steadily drifting apart due to the artistic differences as well as differing on ambitions the two graffiti artists decided to walk away from each other basquiat would in fact mark this parting of ways with the message samo is dead which would later become iconic to the closely watching graffiti art fans with the message appearing on the facade of many local galleries and downtown buildings during 1980 although this was the end of a partnership basquiat was continuing to further experiment with different mediums and create different ways to sell his art now jobless and still very much homeless and penniless he would primarily support himself through peddling and hand-painted merchandise such as postcards and t-shirts which although would later be regarded as priceless collectibles it would still not quite be enough to ensure a meal or a place to stay often resorting to panhandling dealing drugs or according to him looking for money on the floor of certain nightclubs just to get by but as he immersed himself further into downtown city life opportunities to truly display his art or at least draw wider attention to him were continuing to show up for him not only was his street art beginning to appear on public access tv networks taking every opportunity to be interviewed despite his general shy demeanor but he would also dip his toes into the music scene he would perform as a dj in many clubs establishing himself as part of a new wave music scene suddenly taking over the city especially in the lower east side this is how he would eventually form a band with his friend and a filmmaker michael holman who had previously helped sean michelle feature on public access tv parties the band would later be known as gray curiously yet unsurprisingly inspired by the book basquiat receives when he was bedridden in hospital grey's anatomy the whole concept would be outside the realms of a norm since the night that they formed the band as neither were trained musicians in their own right but the music would be achieved through their methods of chopping and deconstructing sounds to create abstract audible arts on various types of synthesizers sound boxes and even classical instruments with basquiat caught in a photo apparently giving it his all on a clarinet the two would eventually hire more members to join the band and they would perform in clubs such as cbgb's mud club and max's kansas city michael holman would himself describe the music as quote ignorant music continuing on to say that our attitude was like let's embrace the idea that we don't know how to play our instruments and let's only have people in the bands who don't know how to play instruments let's approach the instruments in a new way let's play them as if we're aliens from another world and we have no idea how the instrument was meant to be played but we knew beautiful music and sound when we heard it it would seem even before his artistry had fully manifested jean-michel was only interested in trying a hand in things that were new or attempted to be different basquiat was desperate for something yet unseen within a world of expression yet during this turn of the decade basquias in their frustrations and feelings of oppression were once again pushing him into another fresh start feeling critical of a lack of people of color in the downtown scene who began spending more time with graffiti artists in the more uptown places such as the bronx and harlem by the early 1980s his street art was subsequently appearing on the streets less and less as now more gallery showings of his pieces were popping up everywhere encouraged by various friends within the art scene including collectors and curators basquiat would start purchasing more professional art supplies although still very poor he would by now have a very steady relationship with a former bartender and waitress susan maluk who also allowed the young artists to move in with her providing not only a roof over his head but a place to work on his paintings which initially would not be on paper or canvas but rather on old doors windows refrigerators or really anything that jean michel could find on the streets in order to save money his most noteworthy early exhibition would be at the multi-artist show at the new times square in the year 1980 where he would begin to pick up the attention and interest from reputable art critics with one article naming him as quote the radiant child feather concreting his reputation as a truly unique young up-and-coming artist even his first solo exhibition would not be long afterwards as in 1982 his work was displayed in the anina jose gallery in soho around the same period basquiat had taken his art to an incredibly sophisticated level even for his young age by representing the human figure in what could be argued as more contemporary ways or certainly in a way that fit the alternative scene of downtown new york that everyone now wanted a piece of the early work of basquiat would feature alongside other artists such as david cell and julian schnabel who would collectively popularize the exciting new art movement later to be referred to as neo-expressionism jean-michel however had a particularly specific mission plans for him and his work a lot of the imagery basquiat was experimenting with during this time was heavily influenced by his personal and cultural backgrounds such as the african diaspora and of course his fascination in anatomical themes for example one of his most well-known masterpieces on canvas as well as one of his earliest would be the untitled painting that would eventually coin the unofficial title of the skull produced in 1981 this intricate display of scratches and patches takes on a very similar appearance and feel to that of frankenstein's monster with multiple coloured patches of skin and crude stitching the background itself is thought to be significant to basquiat's life and surroundings as they're believed to be aspects of a new york city subway system the colors used are also significant giving off the appearance of bruised or damaged flesh made all the more tangible by the expression of a face with eyes down cast and staring beyond despondently there is almost a violent energy that radiates from his peace as if it's displaying the aftermath of a fight it would be the following year of 1982 that his work would truly begin to make a global impact on the art scene however with more of his trademark skulls and multi-pattern faces beginning to appear in solo exhibitions by this year he was beginning to paint on canvas more regularly and releasing his work at as many as six solo exhibitions around the world for example in castle in germany jean-michel would be the youngest artist in history to be part of the international contemporary art extravaganza known as documenta he would continue on to create as many as over 200 paintings during this period seemingly creating art of any kind at any time in any place this would also be the year in which an equally significant alliance would form between sean michelle and one of the most widely respected artists in the world contrary to popular belief basquiat would not meet andy warhol by sheepishly approaching the established pop artist with one of his bright and colourful postcards whilst warhol was having lunch at local restaurants in fact gallery artist and collector bruno bischoff burger would later claim to have formally introduced the two artists to each other when he invited them to lunch late that year regardless of how the two would cross paths this relationship between the young and exciting prospect and one of the greatest figureheads in the art scene would later prove to be life-changing for both of them outside of the art studio vasquilla was still a regular face in the new york clubbing scene able to make connections with virtually anybody including debbie harry from the band blondie who would purchase one of his paintings for 200 considered to be a fortune to the then still modestly living artist jean michel may have now entered the art scene stirred excitement and even provided something new and unexpected but something was still not right something unfixed and unchallenged lingered in the gallery rooms that basquiat was desperate to express himself to put it frankly basquiat felt no less alone misunderstood or insignificant in spite of his talent and success simply because he was a black man now trying to prove himself to an incredibly white-washed industry for lack of a better way of putting it up until this time the art world was founded solely on white artists displaying white figures inspired by white culture as young jean-michel quite rightfully felt alienated by it barely if not at all did african-inspired culture exist within the art world even within the supposedly progressive modern art world of that period even though jean-michel was influenced by a wide range of caucasian history literature and artists it was absolutely imperative to him that black culture would become more normalized and celebrated within the art form he would begin incorporating a lot of his african and african-american heroes in his paintings such as african royalty and jazz and beebop musicians jean-michel would also become incredibly protective of his work as his popularity continued to rise by the time he had his own studio loft and had collectors knocking on his door nearly every day demanding art from him yet simultaneously asking for specific colors or imagery to match their furniture for example basquiat had very little patience for such conversations often resulting in him slamming a door on a lot of collectors faces even if it potentially meant losing a check for thousands of dollars he would not let anything hinder or corrupt his honesty in his craft however by the mid-1980s whomever john michelle would turn away would make very little difference basquiat was making as much as over a million dollars a year from the sales of his artwork sometimes his entire collection would sell out in a single night and the newfound friendship between him and andy warhol in his eyes was seen as a precious golden key to truly leave his mark in the more elite and glamorous side of the art industry an achievement the basquiat was adamant to grasp it would lead to them collaborating with each other from 1984 to 1986 such as 10 punching bags last supper produced between 1985 and 1986. warhol would typically start the painting creating an image distinctive to his style with basquiat later defacing and altering the painting to make it an intricate hybrid of pop art and neo-expressionism although some would be impressed with the results of one of the greatest working with one of the youngest and most promising the vast majority of critics would unfortunately disagree seeing the results as merely a desperate and out of touch attempt to commercialize a new trend and restore relevancy to a former star in art but nonetheless was nowhere near his previous level of influence to downtown new york basquiat was practically the king and hero of the underground scene but as jean-michel wanted to push himself further into the realms of the greats in bigger galleries and bigger museums more of his work would be rejected shrugged off by old-fashioned-minded art critics and creators as overly simple or too primitive to match pre-existing masterpieces in the galleries your michelle dreamed of even when collaborating with a household name like andy warhol the confused or underwhelmed reactions from the artistic elite would remain the same seeing this kid from the streets as just a graffiti artist who just got lucky the term of graffiti artists would be one that basquiat would absolutely resent and so and you're seen as some sort of [Music] primal expressionism is that i mean like an ape well uh what's a primate well well i don't know is that is that you said it i don't [Music] while it may be true in some of basquiat's work that at face value some examples may appear at first glance to be very minimal or almost resembling the drawing of a toddler but make no mistake this style was absolutely intentional from day one and jean-michel would never take to the canvas with blind eyes and a head empty of ideas he would claim in many interviews and arguments with his now increasing number of critics that each scratch and each smudge of paint would have a significant meaning and purpose even the words scribbled out in his painting such as roosevelt 3 produced in 1983 displaying words painted on and then crossed out or painted over again in numerous places the reason being basquiat would explain is that when a word is more obscured the more likely an observer will be drawn to it an almost reverse psychology experiment that he would love to include within some of his paintings following the rather cold criticism of warhol and basquiat's calibration project the relationship between the two would naturally also begin to sour already close friends of jean-michel were beginning to see an unfavorable change within him he began disassociating himself from his downtown past attending more parties reserved for the super rich and becoming increasingly obsessed with the idea of being accepted by certain crowds andy warhol was seen as no less innocent in the picture with some claiming he was straight up exploiting jean-michel for gaining influence of younger crowds and many even stating due to warhol's sexuality that he was trying to seduce the young artist this unfortunately would not be the most significant change in basquiat that his friends would begin to see although a friend had recounted basquiat's use of heroin as early as 1980 by the mid-80s it was sadly plain as day that his addiction was now spiraling he would become increasingly paranoid blotches would start appearing on his face and his once previously busy morning schedules of hours and hours of painting were beginning to fizzle out although now he was making more money than he could have possibly imagined still young and used to poverty he would struggle to handle such bountiful income often spending the money on drugs as well as heroin his addiction to cocaine became so problematic that he would disfigure the inside of his nose by damaging his nasal septum he would also tire of new york and begin branching out to new studios to start fresh work such as los angeles that would prompt many video recordings of him experimenting whilst watching tv and listening to beep pop on the stereo which by now was his traditional method of working and gaining inspiration however even though his painting rituals would remain the same in a new environment his style of art was quite noticeably changing a slightly more minimal aesthetic was beginning to shine through often a very typical trait of artists who continued to paint during their autumn years despite how young basquiat still was at the time by 1987 following his return to new york at the end of a romantic relationship basquiat was slipping further into obscurity becoming a recluse and continuing to swerve further away from attempts of sobriety some close to him would claim following the death of andy warhol that year jean-michel was particularly heartbroken and all the more socially evasive even when trying to rebuild a relationship with his father showing off his wealth and success to him for his approval he would only be rejected once again pushing jean-michel further into that pit of him not feeling that he belonged anywhere the following year would sadly be the last year of jean-michel's life completing the painting not long prior to his death with the eerily foreboding title riding with death produced in 1988 by this time basquiat had tired of his work being described by the ignorant crowd as either primitive or naive and so a lot of his later paintings would fully play along sarcastically to the stereotype displaying his art like it were a cave painting or a tribal painting there is always something haunting about the final painting of an artist especially when the whole theme and look and even the name of that painting almost resonates with the inevitable that is to come it's almost as if jean-michel anticipated his own death being merely around the corner and sadly in august of that year jean-michel basquiat would die at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose at his home on great jones street in manhattan when he arrived at the medical center in new york who was pronounced dead on arrival the career and life of basquiat may have been terribly short but if i could name one of the most satisfying outcomes from all of this is that whether he lived to see it or not he completely proved his critics wrong the cultural impact of his art since his death has concreted his status as one of the founding pioneers of neo-expressionism arguably more so than the then more respected caucasian artists of the genre at the time because what basquiat brought to the art world was the exposure of corruption and lack of diversity within its own industry no such art existed for where basquiat and his family came from no real desire or motivation to make western art more diverse multicultural and refreshing would come to be until basquiat decided that fateful day at the age of 17 to run away from the norms and expectations and do something completely game changing his rags to riches story has inspired so many to recreate his life in forms of documentaries and even movies new generations of artists thought of this day pay homage to the black kid from brooklyn who wasn't afraid to say art needed something new and something that respected his culture the kid who even before reaching the age of 20 had the purest of talent to redefine the way that we look at art forever rule books that were previously there were now made redundant thanks to artists like basquiat but much like my recent video on kurt cobain and many other young artists who died far too young it came at a huge price hindsight is a wonderful thing but i can't help but feel sometimes that we're just going to repeat history by continuing to squeeze every last drop out of young talents hardly in their 20s yet every human being has a limit to what public and media pressures they can take basquiat only wanted acceptance of his background and heritage not to be constantly seen by the media as a scruffy graffiti artist from a broken home and a life of poverty he wanted fame and attention as most of his closest friends would admit but he wanted above all else for his work to be respected like that of his heroes to be on the wall alongside the likes of picasso who we adored as a child but a constant lack of understanding or at least a lack of desire to understand his work by the media would only prove more and more painful and the demand for masterpieces more stressful these kind of expectations instead of embracing or accepting a healthy need for change can not only be counterproductive but also discouraging for artists to truly show their unique outlook on the world and although it would eventually prove to be too much pressure to take by the time he reached 27 years old regardless of how many more snobbish crowds disregarded his art is just crude scribbles i can't help but admire that till the very end he stayed true to his vision and genius producing countless works that were not only relevant to political economic and racial issues in the 1980s but remain equally as inspirational and thought-provoking to the modern-day viewer as well with his paintings still selling at auction for hundreds of millions of dollars to this day all the more proving just how precious his style of artwork really was and still is thank you so much for watching i hope this has been of interest and i sincerely hope you found something valuable and inspiring in the artwork of jean-michel besquea before i go it's that time again for artists corner where i get to share some artwork sent in by one of my viewers and today i'm excited to introduce you to the hauntingly beautiful artwork of demaio sharko she's been painting since she was 13 and drawing since she could hold a pencil in her hand normally she's drawn to the more beautiful and conventional concepts in arts until one day she realized that she could use artist therapy instead of trying to impress others with her technical skill in her work she says she really found herself as an artist after being driven to paint images that she was afraid of and images that would portray the darker sides of herself but in a beautiful way conveying strong uncomfortable emotions that can't be fathomed into imagery that you see here now amazingly she's also mostly self-taught apart from a few learned mediums in high school she says her is also very influenced from kurt cobain's style of creativity and his use of colors and i truly see that homage shine through in her work i love her very similar style of creating figures in the surreal paintings who bear the same slender husk-like features as if they're mummified corpse or in some way in my eyes at least a perfect representation of how it feels to be objectified i had a look on her instagram and i love the piece that she named on there taking the dog for a walk not just because of a weirdness of essential figures but even her style of creating the background looks so dreamlike and ethereal please go and show us some much deserved love on their instagram that you see here and in the description below if you're an artist and what's a feature on my channel please send your artwork and a bit about yourself to blindsweller gmail.com i'm also on twitter by the way if you want to have a chat with me on there and a huge thanks to all of my top tier channel members for this month christopher watts portfolio classy chassis wendigo ken b carol hartung and garrett greathouse if you'd like a shout out in a future video or want to see my content early please consider becoming a blind dweller member today for as little as 299 a month thank you again for watching see you in the next one soon and bye for now

Channel: Blind Dweller

Views: 196,025

Keywords: blind dweller, jean michel basquiat, art documentary, jean michel basquiat documentary, deep dive, iceberg, explained, history of art, art history, art techniques, arte, onlineart, creative, artnews, fine art, genius, paintings, oil painting, portrait, portrait painting, history, artist, Andy warhol, tate modern, pop art, movie star, silkscreen, printmaking, New York art, new york, american art, basquiat, jean-michel basquiat, blm, black artist, skull, heroin overdose, drugs

Id: 7csvWF6OU40

Length: 34min 8sec (2048 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 03 2022