♥ let us die young, or let us live forever.

last night i opened my art-loving heart to a new documentary,

  jean-michel basquiat: the radiant child (2010).

being a minor in art history, you would think i would've heard

something about this peerless artist who created over 1,000 paintings

and 1,000 drawings in his short lifetime (he died at the age of 27), but alas,

i believe there is a lifetime of artistic discovery yet ahead of me, 

and basquiat's work is just the tip of the iceberg.

beginning as a graffiti artist in the late 70's, tagging under the name, samo©,

jean-michel climbed his way to fame & fortune by confidently and prolifically

creating a solid body of work, that got bigger and better and more ambitious as 

the years progressed. he was a contemporary of madonna and debbie harry

 and could count andy warhol as one of his closest friends. 

and yet there was a sadness and a madness to his life, and much like the

 tortured artists who paved the way before him, this bright star burnt out

 way before his time- leaving lovers of his artwork to ponder and 

mourn over what might have been and what will never be.

source.