Boom For Real

The antiestablishmentarian wonder of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is resurrected in H&M’s culturally important collaboration with Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore.

- STYLING SUFFIAN

ONE OF THE MOST unfortunate things about American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's legacy is that for a long while, it was hard to measure its true impact on the art world. Most, such as his friend Andy Warhol and long-time patron David Bowie believe him to be immensely talented.

Others, and this tended to be people with a rather narrow view of what art is and can be, thumbed their noses at him. Art critic Robert Huges dismissed his work as absurd, while The Daily Telegraph art journalist described Basquiat as a 'talentless hustler', whose work never progressed beyond the 'lowly artistic station' of graffiti.

The artist did not help his case, framing himself to be self-taught, to be from outside the system when it comes to artistic production. Basquiat himself once famously said, "I never went to an art school. I failed the art courses that I did take in school."