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Basquiat, a black artist from a working-class family, began what became a successful career sketching images around New York City in the late 1970s under the tag name "SAMO." In his early drawings, he "transformed his own observations" about life around him "into pithy text messages inscribed on the edifices of the urban environment," according to his biographer, Fred Hoffman. This method "became the basis for his early artistic output," characterized by an effort to "distill" an idea, passion, observation, or perception "down to its core." In 1979, he began to sell "hand-painted" T-shirts and postcards, according to the Brooklyn Museum's chronology of his life.
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Basquiat was, writes the Brooklyn Museum's chronologist, "avid and spontaneous" in his "picture-making, painting on canvas, paper, and found objects like refrigerators, books, and other" items. Basquiat's work demonstrated the ways in which street art could merge form and content to generate public discussion and influence the way people think about the world. His work has achieved significant success in the art world. His art goes for "seven- and eight-figure prices" in galleries in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States and at powerful auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. It is also featured in important museums worldwide, from New York to California, Europe to Japan, Africa to Germany, Texas to Maui, from the Musee D'Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris and the Fondation Beyeler in Basel to the Brooklyn Museum and Los Angeles's MoCA. His studio and gallery exhibitions did not alter the nature of his work: "SAMO-like scrawlings reemerged in Basquiat's studio works, many of which were executed on found surfaces and thus continued to emanate a strong street art energy and immediacy" (Carter).
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It was this experience that propelled Haring to open the [Pop Shop|http://www.pop-shop.com/drupal/?utm_source=haring&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=haring-home] in 1986. A retail store located in New York City's [SoHo District|http://www.sohonyc.com/], the Pop Shop sold "[T-shirts|http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=keith+haring+t+shirt], [toys|http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=keith%20haring&rh=i%3Atoys%2Ck%3Akeith%20haring&page=1], [posters|http://www.art.com/gallery/id--a82/keith-haring-posters.htm?RFID=571502&keyword=Haring+posters&KWID=873927715&CTID=1087188660], [buttons|http://busybeaverbuttons.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/keith-haring-buttons-up/], [magnets|http://www.cafepress.com/+keith-haring+magnets]," and other paraphernalia "bearing \[Haring's\] images." Haring looked upon his shop as "an extension of his work" and his philosophy: it was "intended to allow people greater access to his work, which was now readily available on products at a low cost," explains his web site biographer. It was a place where "not only collectors could come, but also kids from the [Bronx|http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.02d9ee26d69924f6a62fa24601c789a0]" ([Jade Dellinger|http://www.amazon.com/Jade-Dellinger/e/B002YRFBNS], ["Art and Commerce"|http://www.haring.com/cgi-bin/essays.cgi?essay_id=15]). The Pop Shop was subject to criticism from those in the art world who questioned whether it represented a turn toward the commercialization of art. But in that respect it was hardly different from high-end galleries and auctions -- except for the demographical constitution of the population it catered to. Haring maintained that the aesthetic quality of his work was not compromised with the opening of the Pop Shop, noting that "\[it\] was less about ['purity'|http://inside.fdu.edu/fdupress/05112802.html] and much more an issue of integrity" -- and the intention behind the Pop Shop fell comfortably in line with his sense of integrity. |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAMO©_Graffiti
http://www.answers.com/topic/jean-michel-basquiat
http://www.gallerywalk.org/Street_Studio.html
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