Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

by Javaka Steptoe

Hardcover, 2016

Status

Available

Call number

740.92

Genres

Children's Books

Description

Jean-Michael Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art work had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message and art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful.

Media reviews

the book

This book is about Jean-Michel Basquiat's life and how he becomes a famous artist. He goes through hardships and trials that get him to where we is in life now. It is a great way to show children that one can do anything you set your mind to. It may not come easy but nothing does and to push

through hardships is a part of life. The other thing is this book is a great way to incorporate art in a book.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member pataustin

. Jean-Michel couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t love drawing, and he knew he wanted to be a famous artist. His mother passed down the love of art, as she read to him, surrounded him with art, and took him to theaters and museums. After being hurt in an accident as a child, Jean-Michel

also learned that art has healing powers–a power he would come to need when his mother suffered mental illness and wasn’t there for him. As he grew older, he took his art to the city streets, spray-painting on walls, and it wasn’t long before his artwork hung in galleries. With a unique style, people “describe him as radiant, wild, a genius child, but in his heart he is king, so he draws crowns for himself and others he admires.” It is the symbol of the crown that most defines his work. Javaka Steptoe provides an afterword in which he not only gives more details about Basquiat’s life but also details about how he did the illustrations. Using bits and pieces of things to create mixed-media collages, Steptoe was inspired by and interpreted Basquiat’s works. His hope is that he will thus invite readers to create “using the materials, people, and places in the environments.”

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LibraryThing member Whisper1

Rich in color and eloquent in words, Javaka Steptoe tells the story of the young artist Jean Michel Basquiat. As the author notes, Jean Michel Basquiat's art became a cultural phenomenon in the 1980's and took the art work by storm. Bold, block like messages outside the traditional framework made

Basquait unique.

As a child, he was always found with pencils and papers that filled his parent's apartment. As his father played jazz records, his Puerto Rican mother reinforced his artistic leanings and exposed him to art in museums. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, they often visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art where , at the time Picasso's famous full-walled, anti war painting Guernica was prominently shown..

Inspired, Basquiat wanted to be a famous artist. Filled with colorful shapes, his collages and poems where scattered everywhere he went.

After suffering a severe car accident, he was changed. When he healed, he spray painted walls with poems and drawings. Sadly, his beloved mother experienced a mental breakdown. Using his art as a mechanism to help with his sadness, painting a crown denoting a place of honor, his works now are infused with symbolism.

This small radiant child grew to be a very famous artist.

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LibraryThing member robynbelmont

This book is a biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat's life. Basquiat was a New York City artist in the 1980's, and this book includes facts about his art and his life. It addresses events such as the car crash Basquiat was in as a child, and his mentally ill mother.

LibraryThing member MaowangVater

Steptoe’s own vibrant art tells the story of another New York artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, The son of a Haitian immigrant and a Puerto Rican mother, Jean-Michel was a boy who from an early age continuously drew and painted with the ever present goal of becoming a famous artist. As a teenager he

became a graffiti artist, until his art drew the attention of gallery owners and art aficionados, and he’s invited to exhibit on the inside walls, and achieved his goal.

Twice in this picture biography Steptoe writes that Basquiat’s art is “not neat or clean and definitely not inside the lines, but somehow still BEAUTIFUL.” And in his author’s note at the end of the book, after telling of the effect that Basquiat had on his own development as an artist, he expresses this hope. “I also wanted young readers and the adults in their lives to be able to use Basquiat’s story as a catalyst for conversation and healing. As someone whose mother suffers from mental illness, I believe this story touches on an important topic, as diagnosable mental disorders affect about one in four adults in the United States each year.”

There are no reproductions of Basquiat’s art in the book, with a single exception—a reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica—the paintings and collages are all Steptoe’s. They are painted and assembled on found wood. In the introduction he tells readers, “they will find my original pieces that were inspired by him and my interpretations of his paintings and designs.”

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LibraryThing member MeganSchneider

Jean-Michel knew that fame would someday be his, and through struggle and heartbreak he made it happen. Even though his art wasn't the same as traditional artists he continued to paint, until he found his way.

LibraryThing member klamproe

This is the story of Jean-Michel Basquait, from when he was a young child Jean-Michel was always drawing. Everyone knew that he would be a great artist one day. Jean-Michel wanted his art to show everyone that art doesn't have to be perfect and inside the lines to be beautiful.

LibraryThing member MeaghanRyan

This book tells the story of young Jean-Michel Basquiat growing up in Brooklyn and becoming an artist.

LibraryThing member DonnaMarieMerritt

The vibrant colors are as poetic as the language. I love how Steptoe used found materials for the art (as Basquiat did), going so far as to dig through Brooklyn dumpsters. There is an afterword with more about Basquiat's life, the symbolism in his art, and a note from the author/illustrator, whose

mother, like Basquiat's, suffered from mental illness. I've always believed picture books were suitable for all ages, and I am definitely going to share this one with older students.

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LibraryThing member matesewiggns

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is an colorful picture book/ biography that depicts the life of Jean Michel Basquiat. Jean Basquiat is a young African American child that loved to color outside the line and draw pictures that depict his community. Growing up in

Brooklyn NYC and living with a mother with mental health issue, Jean Basquiat transcended the art world in 80s and rose to popularity through his unique art.

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LibraryThing member caliesunshine

This picture book is about a French American Artist Jean-MIchel Basquiat. This was a wonderful book about his life as an aspiring artist. Jean-Michel was very inspired by his mother. When his mother became mentally ill, He knew he would work harder than ever to heal his broken heart. I think this

book would be great for the classroom to not only teach about art, but to teach what is behind the artist. A lot of times Art is the result of healing.

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LibraryThing member brytniewheeler

This book is about the life of Puerto Rican-Haitian American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. It mentions Basquiat's art and talks about the early steps of his artistic journey. This book is a great book to teach students about art and its' history. In addition, this book mentions multi-cultural life

and the characteristics of it which could be eye opening to students as they learn about life different from their own.

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