Jean-Michel Basquiat sprayed fragmented poems on New York walls in the 1980s and was part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking.

Basquiat's expressive style included figures and words, and was inspired by jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street life. When Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time.