Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks and Astounding Commodification
African-American, born to African-descended, Francophone and Hispanic Caribbean immigrant parents, Jean-Michel Basquiat was the embodiment of modernity. He is the quintessential romanticized figure of the agonized artist, who died too young. He was prolific during his brief and meteoric career, and remains an invaluable artworld commodity decades after his tragic passing. Only half joking, I describe the trip from Harlem to Brooklyn as “the Hajj.” It consists of trains that are almost guaranteed to be delayed and messy, ever-mutating transfer […]
Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: art, Basquiat, Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, Brooklyn Museum, caribbean, commodification, immigrant, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mariamma Kambon, modernity, painting, photography
