When I was in my final year of high school, I was introduced to African-American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by my visual arts teacher. She labelled him as the ‘black Andy Warhol’ who soared to amazing heights in his short life. That was a BIG CALL!!! So of course I had to find out who this guy was.
What I discovered was an amazing artist before his time. He has been noted by Graham Thompson as the first painter of African descent to become an international art star. I don’t think he should even be classified as a ‘black Andy Warhol’. I think Basquiat was in his own realm of art.
Jean-Michel Basquiat born in 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. At a young age, he was encouraged by his mother to paint and draw. He started his art career when he dropped out of his Senior year in high school and started selling postcards and t-shirts he has created. In 1981 he joined the Annina Nosei gallery and started exhibiting his pieces along side other great artists like David Salle. It was around this time he joined the Neo-Expressionist Movement, became acquainted with Andy Warhol and began dating Madonna.
Basquiat worked on his paintings in Armani suits, which he would often appear in public with paint splats all over them. By the mid 80s he left the Annina Nosei gallery to the more prominent Mary Boone gallery in SoHo.
Basquait was heavily influenced by the punk and graffiti movement. His work was quirky with vibrant blobs of paint and extraordinary shapes. I think of the work as childlike pieces made at tertiary level. I mean the works look somewhat childlike but have sophistication and stronger meaning. For example his works often referred to politics and the history of Black People.
When I came across the title of this photo shoot of Nigerian model Ty Ogunkova in Vogue Hommes International (Spring/Summer 2010) I was curious to see if Basquiat’s legacy was served justice. And when I saw the images, I thought it surely does justice to Basquiat’s legacy. I think the images give you a sense of Basquiat’s character – edgy, rebel-like, creative and different.
IMAGE SOURCE: BLACK SUPERMODELS CHRONICLES
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