Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols

Rarely seen treasures from a private collection unveil Basquiat’s creative experiments in his final years Published with Pérez Art Museum Miami. Collected together here for the first time is a remarkable private collection of late works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, acquired over the past decade. These include the paintings Untitled “Skull,” In Italian, Untitled (Baptismal) and Pez Dispenser, as well as a sculpture—one of the artist’s rare forays into the three-dimensional realm. Figures, Signs, Symbols accompanies the exhibition of the same name at Pérez Art Museum Miami, an evocative location that hearkens to the artist’s Puerto Rican and Haitian ancestry. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) is one of the most successful Black visual artists in history, despite his brief career. He emerged on the New York City arts scene in the late 1970s and quickly skyrocketed to international fame, becoming one of the most important artists of his generation. Basquiat’s work and legacy continue to influence popular culture, especially art, music and fashion.