Jean-Michel Basquiat: Engadin

The comet-like ascent of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) surprised the art world and sent shockwaves through society. Basquiat began his artistic career covering the walls of Downtown New York with conceptual, poetic graffiti. His symbol-laden paintings address political issues, criticizing racism, social injustices, and consumer capitalism. He found inspiration for his powerful compositions in everyday life and popular culture such as cartoons, comics, and prominent athletes, as well as in spiritual African power objects. With their skeleton-like silhouettes, mask-like grimaces, and pictograms, his artworks combined the explosive visual codes of the streets of New York with the cultural heritage of mankind, blurring the line between imagery, words, and signs. In just eight years, Basquiat created an all-encompassing oeuvre imbued with the same intensity and energy that characterized his
short life. His idiosyncratic visual language continues to influence contemporary movements as well as post-internet artistic practices, and is a testament to his enduring, cross-cultural relevance.