Jean-Michel Basquiat died from an overdose of heroin.
Jean-Michel Basquiat -LRB- -LSB- ʒɑ miʃɛl baskija -RSB- ; December 22 , 1960 -- August 12 , 1988 -RRB- was an American artist .. Born in Brooklyn to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother , Basquiat first achieved fame as part of SAMO © , an informal graffiti duo who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1970s where the hip hop , post-punk , and street art movements had coalesced .. Brooklyn. Brooklyn. Manhattan. Manhattan. Lower East Side. Lower East Side. hip hop. hip hop. post-punk. post-punk. street art. street art. By the 1980s , he was exhibiting his neo-expressionist paintings in galleries and museums internationally .. neo-expressionist. Neo-expressionism. The Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of his art in 1992 .. Whitney Museum of American Art. Whitney Museum of American Art. Basquiat 's art focused on `` suggestive dichotomies '' , such as wealth versus poverty , integration versus segregation , and inner versus outer experience .. He appropriated poetry , drawing , and painting , and married text and image , abstraction , figuration , and historical information mixed with contemporary critique .. figuration. Figurative art. appropriated. Appropriation ( art ). abstraction. Abstract art. Basquiat used social commentary in his paintings as a `` springboard to deeper truths about the individual '' , as well as attacks on power structures and systems of racism , while his poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle .. social commentary. social commentary. power structures. Power ( social and political ). political. Political criticism. colonialism. colonialism. class struggle. Class conflict. He died of a heroin overdose at his art studio at age 27 .. heroin overdose. opioid overdose. age 27. 27 Club. On May 18 , 2017 , at a Sotheby 's auction , Basquiat 's 1982 painting , also Untitled , created with oil stick and spray paint and depicting a skull , set a new record high for any U.S. artist at auction , selling for $ 110,500,000 .. -LSB- 69 -RSB-