Basquiat – Beat Bop (1983) – Mechanic’s – Jacket

Basquiat’s art style focused on themes such as wealth versus poverty, and integration versus segregation. His unique combination of text and image contributed to his fame. His pieces, such as Irony of Negro Policeman, were strongly political and direct in their address of power structure and systems of racism. Basquiat’s young life ended tragically at the age of 27. However, hundreds of artists still honor his risky and subversive artistic insight. His countercultural focus helped usher in the idea that street art was, in fact, real art. Moreover, his social commentary has had a lasting and powerful effect. The artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city. He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip-hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world. As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world. Basquiat’s expressive style was based on raw figures and integrated words and phrases. His work is inspired by a pantheon of luminaries from jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street life—so when asked about his subject matter, Basquiat answered “royalty, heroism, and the streets.” In 1983 he started collaborating with the most famous of art stars, Andy Warhol, and in 1985 was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. When Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time.