Catalog of an exhibition held in Museo Revoltella, Trieste, May 15-Sept. 15, 1999.

Includes bibliographical references.

New York City graffiti artist turned art world sensation, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a self-taught African American painter who died in 1988 of a drug overdose at the age of 27. In the ten years before his death, he showed at prestigious galleries in the United States and Europe and painted collaborative works with Andy Warhol and Francesco Clemente. This catalog accompanies a Basquiat exhibition in Trieste and features fine reproductions of major Basquiat paintings, along with portrait photographs of the artist, a chronology of his life, and essays and interviews.

"Like American icons James Dean and Jimi Hendrix, Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was insecure, incredibly talented and died tragically young. Basquiat, who twisted every aesthetic convention, became a living legend, hailed like a rock star, acclaimed by critics, courted by gallerists, and sought after by collectors from around the world. He was close to many of the pivotal artists of his generation, such as Keith Haring and Francesco Clemente, as well as Andy Warhol, with whom Basquiat created many memorable collaborative works. Through his challenging career, Basquiat managed to make himself heard above the racket of the neurotic art world of 1980s, by depicting the energy, violence and diversity of the world around him both powerfully and succinctly. He was able to integrate Afro-American history, the politics of rap, the language of jazz and his own rebellious nature into an extraordinary visual language, and left behind a body of work that is astonishing for its vastness, its diversity of themes, usage of materials and the quality of the painting. A superb storyteller, Basquiat's paintings function as narratives for life events, cultural critiques and mental states. While on the surface his work may appear disordered and wild, in reality there is surprising equilibrium in his great canvases, and precision in his compositions that is impossible to replicate. This book, published eleven years after Basquiat's sudden and premature death, brings together over 110 0f his most remarkable works, complemented by numerous photographs of the artist, interviews with him and texts by both critics and fellow artists." --,Back Cover.

Italian and English.

SACFinal081324