Jean Micheal Basquiat

Jean Micheal Basquiat was a neo expressionist that blew up on the art scene is SoHo during the 80’s and took the art world by storm. His use of text and the elimination of text was a fresh way to interpret words and phrases used. By crossing out words on his canvases, the viewer is more intrigued to read what was written and brought more significance to them as well. His sketchy loose application of paint combined with complicated color palettes was before his time and was not fully appreciated until his untimely death at the young age of 28. He was haunted by demons and traumatic experiences from his childhood that he would paint on canvases that made the viewer feel like they were witnessing the events themselves. I admire this artist for the fact that not many artist of African American descent have been elevated to the realm of "High" art, so for me being a young artist with similar aspirations and background gives me the motivation to pursuer my own goals.