Basquiat

his retrospective examines the short but highly influential career of Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of the first African-American artists to achieve global art-world superstardom. Emerging from the downtown New York graffiti scene under the tag “Samo,” Basquiat developed a raw, expressive visual language that helped redefine contemporary figurative painting and challenged the dominance of Conceptual and Minimal art. Created over just eight years, his body of work spans drawings and paintings that blend street culture, text, symbolism, and emotional intensity, securing his legacy as a defining figure of 20th-century art.

• Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat
• Focus: Retrospective career survey with 160 color reproductions
• Style: Expressionist painting, graffiti-rooted figurative art
• Notable alias: “Samo” (graffiti moniker)
• Key influences: Street art, New York downtown scene
• Publisher: Hatje Cantz
• Pages: 224
• Dimensions: 10 x 1.04 x 12.25 in
• Item weight: 3.75 lbs