Jean - Michel Basquiat , part 1
SAMO slogans were began taking off in 1978, when Basquiat and Diaz began putting the slogans all over Soho and Tribeca, and even the Brooklyn Bridge. Various slogans included "SAMO as a neo art form," "SAMO as an alternative to God," "SAMO as and end 2 confining art terms" etc. His relationship with his father at this time had worsened, and he told his friends of many instances of violence between them. Soon he found himself with no place to live, hanging out at the School of Visual Arts and sleeping wherever he could. He met artist Keith Haring at this time, who was becoming known for his stylish chalk figures of dogs, babies and dolphins.
Basquiat was now gaining notoriety as a graffiti artist, and while the SAMO slogans still popped up everywhere, Basquiat thought being termed a graffiti artist was in fact racist. The graffiti art moment, however was booming, and receiving much attention. In June 1980, Colab, an artists' collective and the Fashion Moda group of artists put on the Times Square Show, which more or less officially introduced graffiti to the art world. Soon after, the film "Wild Style" was released, a document of the expanding hip hop movement, and the downtown graffiti art invents were booming.
Basquiat contributed a painting to a 1983 collective showing of graffiti art at the Sidney Janis Gallery titled "Esophagus." Basquiat became a regular at the Mudd Club at this time, an underground, celebrity-filled New York night spot. Basquiat was also part of an art-rock band called Gray (perhaps after Gray's Anatomy) , who played gigs at the Mudd Club. During this time, he was asked to play a part in a low budget film about the New York art scene called "New York Beat" which began filming in 1980 with Basquiat starring as himself, a starving artist on the scene.
On Valentine's Day 1981, a showing organized by art dealer Diego Cortez called "New York / New Wave" was held at the P.S. 1, an abandoned elementary school in Long Island City. By now, Basquiat's painting style was set: primitive, simple heads that recalled tribal masks, combined with graffiti like slogans and smearing paint. The show gave Basquiat some well-deserved recognition ,as well as proving him with the opportunity to sell some of his paintings for as much as $2,500 a piece. After this show, Basquiat's star was truly on the rise, and
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