The Impact of New York City on Jean-Michel Basquiat's Art
Image © Sotheby's / New York, New York © Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981
Jess Bromovsky, Sales Director[email protected]
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Jean-Michel Basquiat?
Jean-Michel Basquiat
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Key Takeaways
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art was profoundly influenced by the vibrant and dynamic environment of New York City. The city's cultural diversity, urban chaos, and rich music scene deeply impacted his thematic focus and style, leading to a fusion of street art and Neo-Expressionism. His works often incorporated elements from the African diaspora and addressed issues such as racism and inequality, reflecting the city’s complex social fabric. Basquiat’s legacy remains intertwined with New York City, continuing to inspire contemporary artists and celebrated through numerous exhibitions in the city's major museums.
Born in 1960, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s odyssey into the streets of New York City provided a vibrant and dynamic backdrop for his ascension to artistic stardom. Leaving home at 17, Basquiat quickly became a fixture in the New York art scene, using graffiti to inscribe provocative epigrams signed SAMO©, short for Same Old Shit, throughout Manhattan. Basquiat's work evolved into larger illustrative pieces reflecting the city's relentless cycle of growth, destruction, and mortality. New York’s unique energy, cultural diversity, and bustling urban landscape profoundly influenced Basquiat’s style and thematic focus.
Early Years: Graffiti and Street Art Roots
SAMO: The Birth of a Street Art Icon
Developing the graffiti moniker SAMO© with his contemporary Al Diaz in the 1970s, Basquiat’s cryptic and condemnatory messages tagged across the Lower East Side foregrounded the recurring sociopolitical commentary found in his later works. During this era, graffiti was emerging as a vibrant art form in New York City, blending anonymity, creativity, and defiance. It offered a platform to challenge the commodification of art by the elite, asserting a new definition of artistic expression. Through SAMO©, Basquiat not only captured public attention, but also set the stage for his transition from street artist to renowned figure. This early work encapsulated the unfiltered, unapologetic energy of New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s, laying the foundation for Basquiat's iconic artistic identity.
Undiscovered Genius © Jean-Michel Basquiat 1983The NYC Art Scene in the 1980s
Emergence in the Downtown Art Scene
The 1980s art scene produced some of the most iconic artists of the twentieth century, and was marked by a diverse range of styles, particularly Neo-Expressionism, abstract art, and installations. Basquiat's meteoric rise to fame coincided with the burgeoning downtown art scene in New York City, and he became a central figure in this community, exhibiting alongside prominent artists and immortalising his unique style that fused street art with Neo-Expressionism. These collaborations and relationships with influential artists, such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, played a crucial role in Basquiat's development and success, helping him navigate the competitive art market and facilitating his rise to fame.
Cultural and Social Influences
Diversity and Multiculturalism
By the 1980s, New York was becoming increasingly culturally diverse, the city’s multicultural milieu enriching Basquiat’s thematic style and imagination. Basquiat often incorporated elements of the African diaspora into his paintings, featuring Caribbean motifs, reference to African masks and prominent jazz musicians, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Incorporating elements from various cultures and histories allowed Basquiat to address contemporary social issues, such as racism, inequality and brutality, that affected the city’s diverse population. In particular, Basquiat used symbols to explore these social themes, his trademark 'three-pronged tiara’ representing power and authority, and also serving as a commentary on Basquiat’s identity as a black man in a predominantly white art world.
Themes and Motifs Inspired by NYC
Urban Life and Architecture
Motifs of New York within Basquiat’s work highlight the influence of his urban surroundings. The vitality and chaos of urban life are recurring themes in Basquiat's art, often depicted through dense, graffiti-like layers and architectural elements. One notable example is Basquiat’s Mecca (1982), in which he depicts the Empire State building situated under his trademark crown, and the word ‘Empire’ written in inverted commas.
Music and Nightlife
Music also had a significant influence on Basquiat’s creations. New York’s vibrant music scene, particularly jazz and hip-hop, influenced Basquiat’s rhythmic and improvisational style, leading him to recreate these elements through radical juxtapositions of colours and subjects. Basquiat also repeatedly returned to motifs of instruments and musicians, seen in works such as Trumpet (1984) and Horn Players (1983). Fuelled by his personal passion for music, Basquiat was deeply involved in New York’s music scene, attending hip-hop concerts, appearing in music videos of prominent artists, and creating his own new-wave band Gray in 1979.
Banksquiat (black) © Jean-Michel Basquiat 2019Iconic Works Reflecting NYC’s Influence
New York, New York (1981)
Several of Basquiat's most iconic works directly reference New York City. His New York, New York (1981) is a significant piece within the artist's oeuvre. Created during a pivotal time in his career, this piece reflects Basquiat's transition from street artist to an influential figure in the contemporary art scene. The piece’s contrasting mediums of oil, acrylic and spray paint, capture the city’s pulsing urban rhythm and reflects the raw energy of Basquiat’s creative stomping ground.
King Zulu (1986)
Another of Basquiat’s works influenced by his urban surroundings is King Zulu (1986), a compelling canvas depicting four influential jazz players, submerged in a blue space personifying the lyrical sound of blues music. Positioning Louis Armstorng at the centre of the composition, Basquiat intentionally titles his piece to allude to the jazz artist’s appearance as King of the Zulus at the 1949 New Orleans Carnival parade. Characteristically incorporating black American culture into his art, Basquiat illustrates his deep engagement with New York’s racial and cultural identity.
Legacy and Continued Influence of NYC on Basquiat’s Art
Basquiat's legacy is inseparable from New York City, this urban playground witnessing his pioneering fusion of street art and fine art, which continues to influence contemporary artists and the art world today. Since his untimely death, New York remains a central hub for his posthumous acclaim and Basquiat's work continues to be celebrated at numerous New York exhibitions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
Basquiat's bold, unapologetic style has inspired countless contemporary artists, who continue to draw from his innovative approach and the urban themes he explored. Amongst these, Banksy has paid direct homage to Basquiat’s legacy in his work, shown in his Basquiat Welcomed by the Metropolitan Police (2017) and Banksquiat (2019).
The Lasting Impact of New York City on Basquiat’s Artistic Legacy
Basquiat's art is deeply intertwined with the essence of New York City, its frenetic energy and its cultural diversity translating into his artworks. The city’s architecture, music culture, and varied milieu profoundly shaped his artistic vision, embedding within his work the chaotic vibrancy and complex social dynamics of urban life. From his early graffiti days of SAMO©, to his celebrated status in the contemporary art scene, Basquiat's oeuvre stands as a testament to New York's indelible impact on his creative journey. The motifs and themes inspired by the rich, often tumultuous tapestry of urban existence, ensures Basquiat's legacy endures not only in the art world, but also in the very fabric of New York itself.
Jess Bromovsky, Sales Director[email protected]
Interested in buying or selling
Jean-Michel Basquiat?
Jean-Michel Basquiat
56 works
