Black Artists Through History Series Inspired By The Roosevelt Island March For Justice, Take The Drawing Challenge Says RIRA Youth Committee Chair - Lesson 5 On Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fought Racial And Economic Injustice With Artistic Passion

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Children, Youth & Education Committee Chair Adib Mansour developed a series of Black Artists Through History Lessons inspired by the June 3 Roosevelt Island March For Justice

• The first lesson was on sculptor Edmonia Lewis.
• The second lesson was on the painter Romare Howard Bearden.
• The third lesson was on the contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley
• The fouth lesson was on painter Ajamu Kojo. 
• The current lesson is on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (Boxer) 

According to Mr. Mansour:

In this lesson, the fifth in the Black Artists through History series, I feature Jean-Michel Basquiat 

If you haven’t heard of this fantastic artist, you’re in for a treat! Go ahead and explore more information and take the artistic challenge.

Print the B&W outline

color it in your style using different media, and email it to me at RIRAdib@earthlink.net. 

Mr Mansour adds:

Basquiat is a perfect example of a middle class black Brooklynite who had interest in the arts at a young age, often visiting the Brooklyn Museum. 

Jean-Michel started at a young age spray paining walls and warehouses in the streets of New York but, unlike others at the time, infused his art with a socio-economic message. He saw racial and economical injustice and fought it with his artistic passion, and achieved fame at a young age. He never forgot his plight to fight injustice and racial discrimination. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat's unfiltered take on the 1983 death in police custody of African American graffiti artist Michael Stewart, The Death of Michael Stewart - also known as Defacement, was painted on a wall of the studio of his friend and fellow artist Keith Haring. 

Stewart, 25, who danced in a Madonna music video, was detained by New York City Transit Police at 2.50 am on Sept. 15, 1983, after allegedly spraying graffiti on a wall inside a subway station. By the time police brought him to Bellevue Hospital at 3.22 am for "psychiatric observation," Stewart was comatose. He died 13 days later. 

The event traumatized many people in the New York art and cultural community, including Haring, Andy Warhol and George Condo, but held a special significance for Basquiat as the then-23-year-old son of a Haitian immigrant. 

It is sad to see that 27 years later, not much has changed. True change must happen! It is in our hands… during the upcoming elections GO VOTE and make a change!

Enjoy, print the black & white outline, and send me your artistic interpretations and your thoughts to RIRAdib@earthlink.net . Feel Free to share.

I would also encourage the youth to email me your thoughts on these wonderful black artists and your opinions on a vision for equality on the island, in this city of ours, and in our country. I would love to engage in a thoughtful discussion of race and equity in art history and theory. 

Here's more on the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

 

Also, check out Mr. Mansour's Black Artists Through History series:

• Lessons 1 on sculptor Edmonia Lewis
• Lesson 2 on painter Romare Howard Bearden. 
• Lesson 3 on contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley
• as well as the Coronavirus School Shutdown Art History Lesson Challenges too.