The Radiant Child
This is a song for the genius child.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild.
Sing it softly as ever you can -
Lest the song get out of hand.
Nobody loves a genius child.
Can you love an eagle,
Tame or wild?
Can you love an eagle,
Wild or tame?
Can you love a monster
Of frightening name?
Nobody loves a genius child.
Kill him — and let his soul run wild.- Langston Hughes
SAMO
I first heard of Basquiat from my mother. She showed me a book in the library about him and his art. I saw a picture of him and the first thing I thought of about him was how the hell did he get his hair like that? Basquiat was the first artist that I ever was interested in I didn’t have a lot of knowledge on art besides what I learned at school. There was something thing interesting about his paintings, I would like to think it would be the colors or the way he expresses himself but it’s neither of those things.It was the words he carefully would put in his work as if it was poetry. I watched the documentary about him and his origin as a street artist putting poetry on the walls of New York always struck a cord with me. Back then he wasn’t yet Basquiat. He was Samo a young man trying to find his self with the other misfits of 1980’s New York.
The 1980's
The thing I realized now as an adult is every great art movement is usually the result of a great change to the current mindset of a society. You can see from the renaissance being a marking of humanist values into the now modern society.The 1920’s “ lost generation” who went through the first world war ,creating the beginning of the modern age of all artist during americas hay day. The hippie movement of the 1960’s, a result of an america in decline with the Vietnam war, Nixon and watergate. Artist in the 1980’s ,runaways from the suburban life of america to New York.
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New York in the 80’s was an interesting place, like times square being the center of all things tourism with Starbucks coffees shops and high fashion stores.There were peep shows,dollar theaters and liquor stores rather then trendy stores an and bright ads. New York was a central point for young artists across the country traveling to come together to express themselves in ways they couldn’t before. That time was the beginning of other things such as hip hop,punk and a new art movement headed by Andy Warhol and social parties hosted by the club kids. Being in this time period in the lower east side as a spearhead of the era of art and ultimate self expression.
Jean Micheal Basquiat was born in Brooklyn in 1960. He was the second of four children, his mom who initially started his artistic interest by bringing him to museums and enrolling him into art schools from an early age his teachers and parent noticed his artistic talents immediately. In 1968 he was hit by a car where he spent a good amount of time in the hospital with nothing but a Grey’s anatomy book which will be a huge inspiration to his art later on. After he got out of the hospital a couple years later his mother was put into a metal institution, his father having enough of Jeans behavior in his home and school kicked his own son out to the streets as a teenager.To survive He begins selling T-shirts with his art and homemade post cards.
Career
A Basquiat painting to me is such a wealth of colors and symbols. Just looking at one of his paintings mirroring our society using subjects like race,media and politics .In the beginning art critics criticized him for being a glorified graffiti artist, thinking his art can’t be taken seriously. On the other hand his art would be a major inspiration to the growing music genre of hip hop in the 80’s. Later becoming an inspiration to many artist and even musicians like Jay-Z.
The artist made a name for himself as Samo writing poetry on the walls and subways of New York . Then making an appearance on Glen O’ Brenin’s Public access show TV party the young man was quickly becoming a figure of the lower east side art movement. His art immediately caught the eye of the community but the world at large. Even capturing the attention of famous artist Andy Warhol at the time and even spawning a collaboration series between the two artist. Him and Andy Warhol would be great friends until Andy Warhols death in February 1987.
Death and Legacy
Basqiuat died at the age of 27 because of an overdose to be later found by his girlfriend at the time. Ever since then his paintings are now worth millions with many of the upper middle class that would scoff at him starting out are now fighting over the remnants of his work. Basquiat was the first contemporary artist I ever related too and made me interested in art. Learning about not just art but art history makes me appreciate his genius even more. Because it always a stereotype of the flawed genius artist but I think artist like him transcend that and show that we can take our inner demons and make something beautiful, as Langston Hughes poem the Radiant child say’s “nobody loves a genius child”.
