The life of a NYC artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat

ORAL PRESENTATION ON JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

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Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American painter, born and raised in NYC, who was a widely celebrated Neo-Expressionism artist. With a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat's diverse cultural heritage was one of his many sources of inspiration. Basquiat's work can be described as street art meets ancient African art. Throughout his works reoccurring themes of skulls, graffiti, masks, and typography within the art all play a role in creating Basquiat’s famous style we all know today.
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Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960 and died on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose at his art studio on Great Jones Street in Manhattan's NoHo neighborhood at the age of 27.

SLIDESHOW OUTLINE

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Slide 1: Introduction to Jean-Michel Basquiat
Slide 2: Summary Timeline of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life
Slide 3: Basquiat’s greatest Influences
Slide 4: Basquiat’s Neo-Expressionism style
Slide 5: Materials and artistic process
Slide 6 - 9: Examples of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work w/ brief summary
Slide 10: Works cited slide

MOMA: Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art

During the trip to the MOMA we observed many 20^th Century art styles such as Cubism, Dada , Surrealism Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism and many others. The two art styles i enjoy the most are Pop art and abstract expressionism. Below are two works of art from the MOMA that i wish to talk about.

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The first piece is a Jackson Pollock Painting titled "One". This painting was created in 1950, Oil and enamel paint on canvas. This work of art is a large wall sized painting which is covered in paint splatters. Observing this artwork up close may give you the illusion of a different painting than when observed from afar. This painting is one of three that Pollock created from summer to autumn in 1950.  This painting's genre can be categorized as Abstract Expressionism. As he did for all his “drip” paintings, Pollock painted this work from above, with the canvas lying flat on the floor.   
Pollock created these paintings by pouring, dribbling, and flicking enamel paint onto the surface, sometimes straight from the can, or with sticks and stiffened brushes. This painting can give one a sense of anxiety with the harsh brush strokes of paint. In person you can see the thick layer of paint in some areas and in others the thin tiniest drips that a picture simply cannot capture.

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The second piece is a very famous one done by Andy Warhol called “Campbell's Soup Cans”. Andy Warhol created them in 1962 out of synthetic polymer paint on 32 canvases total. He created this piece to look similar to the cans of that in a grocery store. When Warhol first exhibited Campbell’s Soup Cans, in 1962, each of the thirty-two canvases rested on a shelf mounted on the wall, just like groceries in a store.


Each print is slighting different then the last by variations in the kind of soup shown; for example, one is vegetable soup while another one is beef. The number of canvases corresponds to the varieties of soup then sold by the Campbell Soup Company. When viewing this piece from first glance you may not notice the differences in soup at all due to the symmetry and common colors, but when observed closely, you can see thicker paint lines and different names on each can.