Jean-Michele Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat got his start on the streets of New York city as a graffiti artist. His work caught the eye of famed artist Andy Warhol, the pair struck up a friendship, and they created art together. When Basquiat was young, he was in a serious accident that left him healing in bed for many months. His mother gave him a copy of the medical text Grey's Anatomy, and he was fascinated by the inner-workings of the human body. You can see many of the medical text influences in his work with bones and body structures. His trademark signature is a gold spiky crown. The book Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe is about a young Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 2018, PBS released an American Masters on Jean-Michel Basquiat. The MFA hosted an exhibit titled, Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation from 2020-2022.