Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960- 1988) was an influential African-American artist who rose to success during the 1980s. Basquiat’s paintings are largely responsible for elevating graffiti artists into the realm of the New York gallery scene., his spray-painted crowns and scribbled words, referenced everything from his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage to political issues, pop-culture icons, and Biblical verse. At the onset of the 1980s, Jean-Michel Basquiat took the art world by storm with his powerf