ROYALTY, HEROINE AND THE STREETS
There were another brilliant graffiti artist, who was exhibiting his neo-expressionist paintings in galleries and museums internationally by the 1980s. Jean-Michael Basquiat focused on "suggestive dichotomies", such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and mixed text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information with contemporary critique.
This recognition of his role first manifested itself in street actions wherein, under the tag name of SAMO, he transformed his own observations into pithy text messages on buildings.
In 1981 he created a series of text-image drawings. Each of them cointained a single word, a short phrase or image referring to a person, event or recent observation in the society.
The outbreak of his fame was enormous, his lifestyle became extremely extravagant, he would throw elaborated parties, then he started giving away money and painting. He spent tens of tousands of dollars on televisions, stereo equipment and suits. He would fill his refrigerator with expensive French pastries only to let them spoil. One of his expensive habits was a heroine, at the height of his success he would spend up to 2,000 dollars a week on the drug. He tried to get himself clean but the death of his friend Andy Warhol plunged him. He died on August 12th 1988 in the age of 27.
This recognition of his role first manifested itself in street actions wherein, under the tag name of SAMO, he transformed his own observations into pithy text messages on buildings.
In 1981 he created a series of text-image drawings. Each of them cointained a single word, a short phrase or image referring to a person, event or recent observation in the society.
The outbreak of his fame was enormous, his lifestyle became extremely extravagant, he would throw elaborated parties, then he started giving away money and painting. He spent tens of tousands of dollars on televisions, stereo equipment and suits. He would fill his refrigerator with expensive French pastries only to let them spoil. One of his expensive habits was a heroine, at the height of his success he would spend up to 2,000 dollars a week on the drug. He tried to get himself clean but the death of his friend Andy Warhol plunged him. He died on August 12th 1988 in the age of 27.
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