Jean Michel Basquiat "was a Haitian-American artist. Basquiat first achieved notoriety as part of SAMO, an informal graffiti group who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the New York City during the late 1970s. By the 1980s he was exhibiting his Neo-expressionist and Primitivist paintings in galleries and museums internationally. Basquiat used social commentaryin his paintings as a 'springboard to deeper truths about the individual' ,as well as attacks on power structures and systems of racism."*
"Basquiat's canon revolves around single heroic figures: athletes, prophets, warriors, cops, musicians, kings and the artist himself. In these images the head is often a central focus, topped by crowns, hats, and halos. In this way the intellect is emphasized, lifted up to notice, privileged over the body and the physicality of these figures (i.e. black men) commonly represent in the world."
— Kellie Jones, Lost in Translation: Jean-Michel in the (Re)Mix*
*info from Wikipedia
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