Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat Pez Dispenser T-Shirt - Slate Blue
Details
This medium weight cotton T-shirt features Basquiat’s Pez Dispenser across the front—with the dinosaur’s tail wrapping around the side and extending to the back of the shirt. The bottom right of the shirt features a sewn-in woven tag with handwritten text pulled from one of Basquiat’s famed notebook pages.
- 100% Cotton Jersey
- Unisex, adult size XS to 2XL; Relaxed fit (slightly looser than a classic fit)
- Made in Portugal
- Machine wash cold with like colors; Do not bleach; Do not iron design
About the artwork: Much of Basquiat's work references popular culture and memories from his childhood. This image of a dinosaur is adorned with Basquiat’s trademark crown symbol. The title, Pez Dispenser, refers to the candy company Pez whose dispensers were shaped like characters from popular culture.
Pez Dispenser, 1984
© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Licensed by Artestar, New York
Jean-Michel Basquiat
A poet, musician, and graffiti prodigy in late-1970s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat had honed his signature painting style of obsessive scribbling, elusive symbols and diagrams, and mask-and-skull imagery by the time he was 20. “I don’t think about art while I work,” he once said. “I think about life.” Basquiat drew his subjects from his own Caribbean heritage—his father was Haitian and his mother of Puerto Rican descent—and a convergence of African-American, African, and Aztec cultural histories with Classical themes and contemporary heroes like athletes and musicians. Often associated with Neo-expressionism, Basquiat received massive acclaim in only a few short years, showing alongside artists like Julian Schnabel, David Salle, and Francesco Clemente. In 1983, he met Andy Warhol, who would come to be a mentor and idol. The two collaborated on a series of paintings before Warhol’s death in 1987, followed by Basquiat’s own untimely passing a year later.
