If you’re a fan of Basquait, you must stop by the Brooklyn Museum of Art and take a peek into eight private notebooks that were crucial to Basquiat’s development as an artist. The exhibit Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks  is on display from April 3–August 23, 2015. The eight notebooks were created by Jean-Michel Basquiat between 1980 and 1987, and are apart of Larry Warsh, a New York– based publisher and early collector of Basquiat works, private collection.


Warsh previously served as a member of the Basquiat authentication committee.

Brooklyn born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat passed away in 1988 at the age of twenty-seven, but he still impacts current culture. The Gap has a Junk Food clothing line for kids based on the works of Basquiat and Uniqlo sells Basquiat t-shirts and leggings. However, his art is much deeper than silkscreened mass-produced clothing. Although, I’m sure his mentor Andy Warhol would appreciate Basquiat’s current success and relevance in pop culture, but this exhibit brings you into the private thoughts of this public artist.

Many Brooklyn folks brought their kids to the exhibit. Basquiat grew up in Brooklyn, but the city's landscape was a lot different for the young artist than it is for today's youth. As I watched a fedora-clad child stand in front of the framed pages of Basquiat’s composition notebooks, I wondered what influence the artist had on this young mind. Basquiat was an artist of my generation.  A high school drop out, he lived on the streets of the city when it wasn’t in a state of perpetual gentrification, when it still had authentic grittiness.

Walking past notebook pages splattered with phone numbers, lists, names and concepts, you could see how Basquiat found inspiration from every aspect of his life. He saw the city as his canvas. He used crayon and dime store composition notebooks to create poetry and art, capturing voices and dialects.

Even in his private notebook, his handwriting is very structured, and you can see that these poetic concepts were captured and saved for longer works. The exhibit really speaks to his creative mind and how the artist seeks inspiration. Walking through an exhibit with framed words isn’t what most expect when visiting a museum, but the notebooks evoke artistic imagery.

One of the striking elements was watching the video of the Basquiat interview that runs at the end of the exhibit. The grainy video shows Basquiat discussing his art and running away from home at fifteen. It captures his youth and the vibe of that generation. I exited through the gift shop, where I found myself holding an overpriced notebook based on the exhibit.