Hello! This is a short biography about Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of my favorite artists. Jean-Michel was born right here in New York in 1960. He was half Puerto Rican and half Haitian, so he could speak, read, and write French, English, and Spanish. His family moved to Puerto Rico when he was 14 but they moved back to New York after 2 years.
Jean-Michel was homeless when he was a teenager after his mother moved to a mental institution. After he was arrested, he dropped out of high school and attended a special school for artistic students who had failed at another school. Jean-Michel started spray painting graffiti under the name SAMO. However, he soon became a prominent artist and joined a gallery. A famous poet named Rene Ricard published an article about him, and even Andy Warhol wanted to work with him.
Jean-Michel died early, at 27, but his artwork is still loved around the world. A movie was made about him in 1996. Keith Haring, another famous artist, made a piece of art to commemorate Jean-Michel after his death. It's called "A Pile of Crowns, for Jean-Michel Basquiat."
