It's been few weeks I wanted to write on the so-called (especially at the moment of his first retrospective in France that has turned into a big buzz you should go to if you want people to think you smart)JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT.
This genius died when I was seven months old of an overdose and I grew up using often his name as a reference when I made graffiti. How could I be more wrong. Basquiat quited graffiti very early insisting on the real quality of his painting, understanding the street art influence as a critic and illustrating the end of it by stopping signing SAMO( same old shit with Al-Diaz).
The retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris was huge. Even if it was not my first encounter with Basquiat's painting, I've never faced that much at the same time.
This man was 27 years old when he died and he left behind him a work of three lives. His paintings are bursting , they depict violence, agressiveness, unifying symbols of racism, royalism with biblical mythologies and afro-americans heroes. He representend one kind of urban counterflow, underground and anarchical. His drawings were a part of his work I did not know much about and were entirely owned by a Swiss collectioner 'Daros', I am glad they are having a peaceful life in my country. Just joking. By the way, we heard a lot about his relationship with Andy Warhol that, to my mind, must have been stucked to an oral one. Their co-production are the worst paintings Basquiat ever made, it just looks that he wanted to mess around Mr. Pop.
A graduation from anecdotical colorful stories, passing by an almost blood dripping on weak wood canvas to an extreme violence announcing a tragical end, Basquiat pushed his art to the very very deep of human conciousness.
