Read about a popular modern artist and answer the questions below.
"I don't think about art while I work — I think about life." Jean-Michel Basquiat
A poet, musician and graffiti artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a multifaceted artist who had developed his unique painting style of frantic scribbling, elusive symbols, and mask-and-skull imagery by the time he was twenty.
Often associated with Neo-expressionism, the young artist drew his subjects from his Caribbean heritage and a mix of African-American, African, and Aztec cultural histories. In only a few short years, Basquiat took the world of art by storm.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960, as the second of four children. His mother raised a love for art in her son from an early age by taking him to art museums in Manhattan and inspiring him to become a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Basquiat made his first drawings on sheets of paper that his father, an accountant, brought home from the office.
Basquiat's work is known for bridging a gap between ethnical primitivist motives and commercial popular art. He used to depict common things and subjects in a completely new light. His employment of bright colours and his vibrant line drawings brought to life on canvas his experiences in the urban landscapes. In addition to traditional canvas painting, Basquiat often painted and drew on unusual surfaces such as wood constructions, cardboard, aluminium, punching bags, and so on. In one of his best-known works, his 1982 oil and crayon painting Cabeza, Basquiat depicts a central figure in black against cadmium yellow and orange field.
Basquiat's legacy is found in major collections all over the world. It continues to be shown in temporary and permanent museum exhibitions.
Write one number in each gap.
Jean-Michel Basquiat became a popular artist...
After his death.
In his early childhood.
When he was 20.
Answer: [ ]
What was special about Basquiat's art?
He always depicted the same subject.
He created his artworks together with his mother.
He drew on materials not intended for it.
Answer: [ ]
Basquiat created his first drawing...
At the age of five.
As a part of his homework.
On a sheet of paper from an accountant's office.
Answer: [ ]