Rebel Artists: Salvador Dali and Jean-Michel Basquiat

There are thousands of well-known artists to date that have made it big, and became famous thanks to their signature image and the way that they marketed themselves. Artists all over the world have used their artwork and fame in order to cater to the elite classes in society. An example of two of these famous well-known artists are, Salvador Dali and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Both artists were different in the ways that they struggled, and in the ways they that they approached situations in order to achieve success. However, both artists were very much rebels of their time, and used such rebellious images to cater to the upper classes. Both Salvador Dali and Jean-Michel Basquiat had different ways of approaching their rebel image, but used their views to express controversial aspects into the art world that resulted in higher recognition and reputation. Separately, both Salvador Dali and Jean-Michel Basquiat were able to become rich and famous by pushing boundaries, and standing against the ordinary.

Salvador Dali is a 1920’s surrealist painter who was born in Spain in 1904. Salvador Dali was best known for his strange and unique art. Dali’s first art pieces were showcased when he was just 14 years old and shortly after that at age 16, his mother passed away from cancer. Dali had expressed this as, “the greatest low I had experienced in my life” ( ). This event became one of the most critical struggles that Dali had to experience and overcome in his life, since his mother was one of his greatest supporters of art (Shanes 2014). Salvador Dali is popularly known because of his bizarre thoughts, wild ways of dress, and iconic mustache. It is often stated that he was also a master in self promotion. All of these factors played into how Dali was a rebel, in love with gaining fame and fortune.

Many people recognize Dali by his famous mustache that he used to gain his reputation, as well as maintain his public image. This mustache of his became an iconic piece to his look, and was also a huge reason for his fame. Dali would often endorse various products for more acknowledgement, and would use his famous waxed mustache for further commercial attention. Not only this, but Salvador Dali’s way of dressing himself also earned him much attention. His overall preferred early 1900’s look as a whole was very “out there” in a way some even described as freaky (Shanes 2014). In his early work Dali wanted to express his surrealistic form of painting, but as he got older he started to use his fame for the elite. Salvador Dali became more of a controversial painter after his primetime, his early 20s and 30s ( ). The father of surrealism, Andre Breton gave him the nickname “Avida Dollars” which means “Eager for Dollars” in French (Stewart 2018). Many people believed that fame and money got to Salvador Dali who wanted to be the center of attention in the media as often as possible.

While Salvador Dali was becoming more controversial as he got older, he was still able to capture the emotion of his audience through his paintings as well as his thoughts about the world. Salvador Dali is known for his art piece The Persistence of Memory, which overall had a very different style then what was known at the time, it includes melting clocks on a desert like landscape. This piece is supposed to show that time is an illusion based on Dali’s views. The main emotions that Salvador Dali brought up in people were the idea of lost in time and urgency. These two emotions counteract each other since one is the absence of time while the other is worry about not enough time. These two emotions that were brought up allowed people to think about how Dali was thinking at the time of painting his works.

Salvador Dali can be considered a rebel through his paintings as well as his public image. As a young artist, Dali was expelled from the same Fine Art Academy twice. While in Madrid, young Dali was expelled for his involvement in a school protest, and then later again expelled for refusing to take the final oral exams (Shanes 2014). Dali often didn't care about what the public thought about him, and often said many things that would make people question his mental health. Dali would keep himself in a “dream like” state when painting, accessing his subconscious for creativity. He once stated “I don't do drugs, I am drugs” (Stewart 2018). In one case, his comments on Hitler caused him to be expelled from the French Communist Party ( ). Dali had a great fascination with Hitler, which was not appreciated by fellow surrealists.

Apart from painting, Salvador Dali also dabbled in various other professions that boosted his media presence, and fame. He made jewelry, illustrated for disney, produced covers for Vogue, and collaborate with others as a fashion designer. Furthermore, while Dali also often said many outrages things towards the public, his artworks were able to be viewed as a rebel pieces of work that target people’s emotions. He uses his masterpieces to target the elite, by showing them how humans live their lives. He does this through the symmetry of clocks showing that time is short and there is limited time. Dali knew how valuable he was, and used his works along with his rebel image to cater right into the hands of the elite. He cherished his fame and his wealth over the years, growing in popularity along with his fellow elites.

For Jean-Michel Basquiat, the idea that art imitates life is a consistent theme in his work. The radical neo-expressionist based out of Brooklyn in the latter half of the 20th century would be one of many artists to push boundaries when it came to art. Basquiat’s life transcended into his art, a raw, confused yet sophisticated style that reflected a tough upbringing riddled with unfortunate event, after unfortunate event. The artist went from the lowest of lows being homeless, to the highest of highs working with Andy Warhol, only to be brought down by his inner demons and drug abuse which took his life as a young adult. Although faced with numerous struggles, Basquiat still finds a way to make a name for himself using his rebellious image to cater to those of upper class.

Born in the winter of 1960, Jean-Michel Basquiat was brought into a less than ideal situation. Although in the classroom, Basquiat would prove himself to be an excellent student with a knack for reading and writing at a young age, his life at home plagued his ability to live a comfortable childhood. By the age of seven, his parents had separated, and his mother was checked into a mental institution. For the next few years, Basquait struggled to live with his family before finally running away from his dad at the age of fifteen. Essentially homeless as a teenager local police arrested him and brought him back to his father after he had slept on park benches. Despite still being a gifted student he struggled to go to high school. He both attended and dropped out of multiple high schools before officially calling it quits and headed back to the streets (Fertz 2010). Needless to say, Basquiate’s childhood would continue to impact his mental health and artwork for the remainder of his life.

It was during this time that Basquiat channeled his identity as a struggling adolescent. Instead of getting a job to pay for food, he instead made t-shirts and postcards and sold them on the street (Fertz 2010). Much of his early work reflected his hard upbringing and the series of unfortunate events that had led him to that moment. This was a consistent theme that continued throughout his career and life.

As Basquiat’s artistic skills progressed he befriended other aspiring artists and dove into the world of street graffiti. Due to the fact that he chose building walls as a medium to display his art, many traditionalists did not support his work. He was a rebel, expressing his thoughts while trying to make ends meet. It went against the grain, however despite this aspect, Basquiat’s revolutionary approach to what art was stirred up conversations. His dedication and determination put into his style of work eventually paid off when Henry Russack the founder of Uniquen saw one of Basquiat’s works ( ). Soon after the two became good acquaintances, and Russack offered Basquiat a steady day job. This new opportunity allowed Basquiat to continue his work with the assurance of an audience. As his confidence grew, so did his status as a rising artist in New York. Soon after getting this job Basquiat starting airing his work on television programs. This set off a ripple effect that would change almost everything. Once an artist that struggled to sell postcards on the street was now selling neo-expressive art of good money.

By far the most pivotal moment of his life was his introduction to Andy Warhol. The two saw eye to eye on a lot of artistic points of view. Both were way ahead of their time and spearheaded a new form of art. Basquiat displayed his artwork to Warhol at a restaurant while Basquiat was working on a film. Warhol was impressed by the work and the two started to work together, pioneering their point of view. Post-Warhol, Basquiat had more exposure and attention than ever before. Basquiat felt as if he was responsible for carrying the black community in the art world and put a great deal of pressure on himself to do his best (Emmerling & Fruhtrunk 2015). Despite achieving stardom, neither wealth or fame could not fix the scars of his childhood. With money and access to hard drugs, Basquiat went down a road of addiction. After a while, his heroin addiction finally took its toll on the young artist as he passed away at the age of 27.

Basquiat stood out as pioneer, and innovator and a rebel. His work will forever inspire generations of young artists to create new mediums, challenge previous points of view and question all the rules established by previous artists. He was brash and real with his art and depicted life from an emotional point of view rather than a physical. His work was far from passive and most of his paintings or collages had expressive, political, and cultural themes. Basquiat fought for anti-capitalism, anti-colonialism, and black culture in America (Steptoe 2019). Those who appreciated his work although complex, were moved and inspired by his rough rebellious life, and how he took chances anyway, advocating for culture in the community.

A good example of his work is In Italian. In this collage Basquiat litters the medium with symbols that help shine light into his work. The background is filled with clutter which could portray his addiction and what it feels like to have the world constantly changing. There are also figures with eyes that appear to be popping out of the individuals head in the background. These eyes show reflection on past decisions Basquiat had made (Steptoe 2019). The piece itself is politically charged asking what liberty really is and if the government gives the people freedom. The main character is more than likely a depiction of himself. Above him is the word “crown” that shows that he has power as a strong, independent African American (Steptoe 2019).

The key take away from Basquiat’s career is that it started in a dark place. He was a gifted student and was incredibly talented at school. However, his personal life began to dictate his ability to pursue his education. Basquiat used art to cope with the pain of his childhood. Even though he became enormously successful doing what he loved, it was never enough to cover the pain of the past. He turned to use his art to help his community but eventually got caught up in a dark place which eventually took his life.

People often find themselves chasing their dreams, careers or destiny. In many ways, the ambition needed to complete goals motivates us to strive for excellence. However Jean-Micheal Basquiat was not running towards a goal instead, he was running away from the horrors that shadowed him as a child. As previous fears haunted the young artist his fame exploded and Basquiat quickly had among some of the most recognizable art in the world. This fame combined with his own inner demons would slowly chip away at the young artist. Problems with addiction would end his life as a young adult. Despite the relatively short career as an artist, Basquiat’s impact on the art world is immortal. His childhood experiences pushed him to challenge old views of art. He pushed the envelope and questioned the foundation of the art world. Together with other artists of the time, Basquiat would fundamentally challenge the nature of what art could be.

Both of these iconic artists although very different in personal life experiences, pushed boundaries in the art world, and were never faltered by society’s critiques. Salvador Dali and Jean-Michel Basquiat took risks, were not afraid to express themselves to the public and as a result of their rebel image became significantly well known artists around the world, and to this day. Both artists believed in different things, and used different tactics to achieve notoriety but had the same goal in mind. Although both artists are not alive today, their works continue to inspire and show how art can be noticed in a variety of ways without limitations that can lead to further recognition. Regardless of one's upbringing, it is still possible to achieve fame and aspire to fit in with the upper elite class.

References Cited

• Emmerling, L. , & Fruhtrunk, W. (2015). Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1960-1988. Köln: Taschen.
• Fretz, E. (2010). Jean-Michel Basquiat: a biography. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC.
• Steptoe, J. , & Butler, R. (2019). Radiant child: the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Solon, OH: Findaway World, LLC.
• Shanes, Eric. 2014. Dalí. New York: Parkstone International. ProQuest Ebook Central.
• Stewart, Jessica. “15 Surreal Facts About Salvador Dalí. ” My Modern Met, 30 July. 2018, https://mymodernmet. com/salvador-dali-facts/2/
• https://www. independent. co. uk/life-style/fame-and-shame-and-salavador-dali-1236618. html
• https://phs. psdschools. org/webfm/9752
• https://www. smithsonianmag. com/arts-culture/the-surreal-world-of-salvador-dali-78993324/