Basquiat, Jean-Michel (1960-1988)

US artist. A pioneer of graffiti art, his combinations of childlike images and eclectic literary quotations were highly successful in the 1980s.

Basquiat began as a teenage graffiti artist in New York City. Using the signature ‘Samo’, he gained an underground following with the cryptic comments he spray-painted onto public buildings. In the late 1970s he belonged to a graffiti art movement with the artist Keith Haring, and held his first major art show in 1981. He also collaborated with pop artist Andy Warhol, whom he greatly admired, and in 1985 they held a joint show in New York City. However, his longtime drug abuse eventually led to a fatal overdose in 1988.