The Revolutionary Paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat || Short Film

There is something particularly poignant to me, as well as being a perfect example of fame exploiting creatives, regarding the story of the groundbreaking, African-American neo-artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The man who produced these mysterious paintings consisting of scratches and scribbles of colour, strange diagrams, various words, letters and numbers meticulously placed in a constellation of imagery would be unlike anything the art world had yet seen. And most importantly, they would unveil a huge social flaw that up until his time, was not yet discussed or resolved in the art world as well.

In a community that seemingly still clung onto the influence of caucausian European history and lore, by the 1980s Jean-Michel would in the most creative ways possible, implement his both his Porteguese and Haitian roots into his work, in an admirable effort to at last allow black culture to become part of art history.

Although his legacy now has been globally influential more than possibly Jean-Michel would have imagined, his life before his eventual untimely death, aged just 27, would be nothing short of heartbreaking.

Although he obtained all the fame and money he could have dreamed of, it would still not be enough to achieve the one thing he wanted above all else, which was for people to accept him.

Although his fascinating career was sadly brief, his whole story shines an invaluable light on how sensationalism can truly exploit the vulnerable, and how irrefutably difficult it would be for a young talent in the 1980s to prove his significance and overturn misconceptions of him, simply based on his background and the colour of his skin.

Today we explore, the now what could be called, Revolutionary Artwork of Jean-Michel Basquiat.