Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 - August 12, 1988) was an American artist. He gained popularity first as a graffiti artist in New York City, and then as a successful 1980-s era Neo-expressionist artist.

Basquiat's productive career spanned just one short decade, yet he is considered one of the best-known artists of his generation sand one of only a small number of Hispanic-African-American artists to have achieved international recognition. Graduating from subway walls to canvas and from the streets of New York to the galleries of SoHo, the artist and his work will forever remain a mystery to those who seek explanation.

Basquiat’s early years were spent with his middle class Haitian father, Gerard, who was unable to fulfill his son's need for nurturing and recognition. To fill the void, Basquiat hit the streets of New York at a young age where art became an outlet for his anger and empty childhood. Also known by the tag SAMO, his unique brand of graffiti was found throughout Manhattan as early as 1976

In 1981, he was invited by artist and filmmaker, Diego Cortez, to participate in the P.S. 1 show, (Institute for Art and Urban Resources), alongside more than twenty artists including Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Kenny Sharf and Andy Warhol.
In early 1982 Basquiat took the art world by storm with his rampageous one-man show at Annina Nosei's gallery. This momentum propelled him to the forefront of the

Neo-Expressionist movement, which was characterized by intense subjectivity of feeling and aggressively raw handling of materials. Basquiat, accustomed to pushing the envelope in all aspects of his life, had something special to offer the neo-expressionist admirer: I cross out words so you will see them more - the fact that they are obscured makes you want to read them.

By the age of 24 Basquiat would be a veteran of one-man shows under the guidance of such notable art dealers as Nosei, Larry Gagosian, Mary Boone and Bruno Bischofberger. Bischofberger introduced his art overseas as well as orchestrated the joint collaboration of Warhol and Basquiat in 1985 which involved some 60 works

It has been written of Basquiat that he embodies the myth of a modern Icarus who rose too quickly and burnt himself in the heat of the sun.

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