The Jean-Michel Basquiat Show

One of the most complete monographs of the artist to date, this illuminating volume depicts the explosive career of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), who is hailed as one of the finest American neo-expressionists of his era.
Published on the occasion of the major exhibition at the Milan Triennale, this monograph covers the entire artistic development of Basquiat through over one-hundred and sixty works, a rich photographic section including unpublished material, and critical text.
An emblematic protagonist of the New York downtown art scene of the 1980s, Basquiat became a legend in his own brief but prolific lifetime. Even now, almost twenty years after his death, his works and lexicon of symbols, subjects and themes continue to intrigue the art world.
Basquiat's artistic output took shape in the span of a single decade, from 1978 to 1988. Nevertheless, his frenetic activity resulted in the production of an enormous body of work characterized by an artistic style that marked him as one of the great exponents of the period. Contrary to many observers of his life who considered him a primitive, "wild child" talent, Basquiat's work was informed by a long-standing and sophisticated interest in the devices of painting.