He was known for challenging the art world and for his immense talent, before his tragic death at 27.
As a new exhibition, "Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure," showcases his work in LA, his sister tells Brut the story of his legacy that continues to inspire artists worldwide.
As a new exhibition, "Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure," showcases his work in LA, his sister tells Brut the story of his legacy that continues to inspire artists worldwide.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00There was no other black man, certainly not a black man with dreadlocks, who was in the
00:11art world at the time.
00:33He was very curious as a child.
00:35He loved and had a lot of questions about how things were put together and what things
00:44meant.
00:46He was very imaginative also and would often put things together or mix ingredients together
00:56just to see what they would do.
01:18So much of his work is really in your face and pretty loud.
01:25He spoke about things like what was happening in the world economically and in New York
01:31City economically.
01:46He had both the creativity, the incredible creativity and talent and artistic ability,
01:53but he also had a focus on business acumen.
01:58He knew that it was very important that he didn't just create art, but that he also
02:04established a position for himself in the art world.
02:08So he did that by networking.
02:31There was this internal exploration of what was happening within him and his own identity,
02:36but there was also this exploration of what was happening around him.
02:41So it was almost like a remix of the topics that were happening in the world around identity
02:47and social justice and racism and colonialism and women and art.
02:57And he kind of took all of those topics and put them together and used them to hold a
03:01mirror up to the world.
03:19Jean-Michel was very sad and really grieved deeply about that because, first of all, it
03:25was, I think, the first loss of life that Jean-Michel had ever experienced and it was
03:31also the loss of, you know, a friendship and someone who really understood what it
03:36was like to be in the art world.
03:47In many ways, Jean-Michel's ability to be a pioneer and to enter the art world in the
03:55way that he did completely and unapologetically himself gives permission, I believe, today
04:03to other artists like him or not who feel or know that because Jean-Michel Basquiat
04:12entered the art world in the way that he did, that they can too.
04:15And I think that's one of the things about his legacy that is so profound and unique
04:22and somewhat overwhelming.
04:30What a lot of people were asking for was more information about who this man actually was,
04:37where did he come from, what kind of family did he come from, what happened in his life.
04:43We had been a very private family and my sister and I decided that it was time for us to answer
04:50those questions.
04:52And so this exhibition has been an incredibly cathartic and fun and adventurous love letter
05:02to our brother and also to our family and to, within our legacy, it's very important
05:08to us that we celebrate the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat and his contributions to the world.