JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT: WILD INTUITION Dr Irene Cioffi Whitfield

Carl Jung described the dangerous psychological dynamics of creative energy: “The unborn work in the psyche of the artist is a force of nature that achieves its end regardless of the personal fate of the man who is its vehicle”. This is evident in the life of Jean Michel Basquiat, one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century. And in his wildly intuitive way, and while still a teenager, he knew exactly what was in store: “I’m going to be famous and I’m going to die young.” Basquiat’s extraordinary access to the ecstatic and destructive powers of creation extracted a terrible price on his perishable human life, but his body of work is everlasting.