Jean-Michel Basquiat
In 1970s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat left graffiti messages on building walls, collaged baseball and postcards, created his own clothes, painted on doors, window frames and on huge canvases. Today, Basquiat (1960-1988) is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century. Coming from the post-punk underground art scene that gathered in lower Manhattan, the child prodigy conquered the art world without academic training. He worked with artist friends such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Blondie.
He developed graffiti and installations for New York clubs such as Area and Palladium and produced the hip-hop record Beat Bop together with K-Rob and Rammellzee. It was out of this creative scene of the post-punk underground that gathered in Lower Manhattan that Basquiat conquered the art world and received international recognition in 1982 as the youngest participant in the history of Documenta. His paintings hung alongside works by Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, and Cy Twombly.
Edo Bertoglio, Helmet 1981
Basquiat's vivid, raw imagery springs from a literacy that runs throughout his work in large fragments of writing and text. It testifies to his encyclopedic interests and his experience as a young artist without academic training. Basquiat cultivated a playful approach to language, loved the rhythm and repetition of words, sampling and scratching. He rebelled against political indifference with words, word mutations and erasures - his unique painting is directed against exploitation, consumerism, oppression, racism and police violence.
©Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
©LibbsclasGallery
Edo Bertoglio photographed Basquiat in 1981 for the exhibition "Boom for real" wearing his famous football helmet written “AARON” on it, in front of one of his large-format works. The photograph served as the motif for the exhibition poster.