It should be noted that Jean-Michel Basquiat is my favorite artist due to the influence of my daughter Zoe Kapp and my bonus daughter Lucy Kay.

We should all know and love Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Neo-Expressionist artist from Brooklyn, New York. Basquiat started off his illustrious career as a graffitist, then became a painter. Known for his abstract drawings with poetically incorporated texts, he was popular in the Punk Art scene in New York during the 1980s. His work was different and unique because it was made up of different art styles, such as tribal art, junk art, collage, and text. Basquiat once said, “I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life”. I would not consider myself and artist, I cant draw stick figures… But I can definitely see how Basquiat’s perception on life is depicted in his paintings. Many artists today, like Basquiat, create to express themselves and/or cope with personal life struggles.

Basquiat came from a troubled family. Although it is not documented that he had a specific mental illness, through his work you could tell he may have been depressed or traumatized by his childhood. Growing up for him was definitely not easy. He had to get his spleen removed at the age of 8 after being hit by a car, his mother was institutionalized for mental illness, so that left him in his father’s care. He eventually left his father’s house due to emotional and physical abuse. He then spent the next few years homeless, living between his friends’ houses, park benches and abandoned buildings. He made money by begging on the streets and selling shirts he made with his art on them, then eventually began drug usage, which ultimately lead to his death caused by an overdose on heroin at the age of 27.

The reason why I decided to highlight Basquiat’s career as well as his personal life is first, he is wildly successful in spite of the trauma he experienced and potential mental health challenges but also because nothing has changed since his era. Young artists are still portraying their broken-selves in their work instead of talking about their problems. Often still turning to drugs and alcohol instead of therapists and psychiatrists to cope with their mental illnesses. Many are suffering but do not know how to, or are afraid to ask for help. Who is to blame for that? Their families? Their friends? Their communities? Personally, I think society is to blame. Society has put the “crazy” label on those with a mental illness. They bash people way more than they try to understand them. That’s why I believe most people who need help are afraid to get it because society has never made mental illness seem like an “okay” thing. So many express themselves through art as they battle this invisible enemy named STIGMA.

With much of society’s ignorance, mental health isn’t taken as seriously as it should be by the health system, therefore, it doesn’t get enough recognition. We need more advocates for mental health. We need more therapists who actually care to understand and help those with a mental illness instead of just throwing anti-depressants at them. Having someone to talk to can literally save a persons life. Most people are afraid to open up, but some people just seek ears that’ll listen.

I’ve realized that a lot of people have it instilled in their minds that money can buy happiness. They think that just because someone has a lot of money or is famous, that makes them automatically happy. What they apparently fail to understand is that celebrities get sad, too. Money doesn’t buy everyone happiness, and because you assume that it does, you’re ignoring your favorite rappers cries for help in their songs, your favorite poets cries for help in their poetry and your favorite artists’ cries for help in their paintings. We have to stop being so oblivious and start being more open minded. Some icons that many look up to have ended their lives due to mental illnesses, such as Robin Williams, Kurt Cobain, Alexander McQueen, Vincent Van Gogh, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. Some icons that have passed away from drug overdose along with Basquiat, such as Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Prince, and Jimi Hendrix. Mental illnesses are killing people who are silently suffering, whether it leads them to drug overdose or suicide, and all they have left to leave behind is their life’s work made up of missed signs.

Basquiat’s painting “Untitled” sold for $110.5 million dollars. Upon its sale, the painting became one of the 10 most expensive works of all time.