Basquiat or the sublimation of the street

Abstract

This article aims to explore the creative processes in the pictorial work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988). Considered as one of the greatest modern artists, Basquiat's partly tragic trajectory raises questions about his capacity for sublimation of not only Eros but also Thanatos drives. Based on interviews, testimonies, and writings, our method consists first in analyzing Basquiat's biography which, through his subjective experience, questions the difference between creativity and creation. Our results show how a triple trauma Basquiat suffered in his childhood fueled his sublimatory dynamics. These traumatizing events – the death of his older brother, his own near fatal accident, and his mother's mental illness – induced Basquiat to create new solutions in his outstanding art to unite creative and destructive impulses. An in-depth analysis of his pictorial style provides strong evidence for this assumption. In conclusion, we discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis in exploring the lesson that artists and their creative processes can teach us. How do their participation in their unconscious, their personal history, and trauma support or hinder their process of sublimation?