American (Brooklyn-born Haitian-Hispanic) painter, sculptor, draftsman and musician, associated with graffitti. He formed a partnership with Al Diaz spraying graffitti on Lower Manhatten and signing their work SAMO© (standing for "same old shit"). In the summer of 1980, SAMO© exhibited at the "Times Square Show" and attracted favorable critical attention. The figure of the black hero as both saint and demon, avenger and victim was central and became an obsession of the artist. 1982: First solo exhibition, in New York, and participation in documenta 7, Kassel. From 1983: close collaboration with Andy Warhol. Within a space of only eight years, until his premature death from an overdose of heroin, Basquiat produced almost 1000 paintings and 2000 drawings.