The Jean-Michel Basquiat Reader: Writings, Interviews, and Critical Responses

Art professor Saggese (Reading Basquiat) provides a thorough overview of the life and work of African American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in this impressive volume. Saggese’s Basquiat is a “subversive” social commentator and visionary, whose Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage provided source material for his art as he “probed the boundaries of blackness.” The book describes Basquiat’s cultural values and working process, drawing on critical essays; a substantial collection of interviews with the artist, which includes a plethora of quotes (“I wanted to make very direct paintings that most people would feel the emotion behind”); examples taken from his notebooks; and pieces written by the artist’s friends and contemporaries, including an elegiac 1988 essay by Keith Haring entitled “Remembering Basquiat” and a moving remembrance Hilton Als wrote for the Village Voice shortly after Basquiat’s death, in which he noted, “Jean lived his life like he had nothing to lose.” This comprehensive survey should be required reading for contemporary art and African American history connoisseurs alike. (Mar.)