Jean-Michel Basquiat was only 27 when he died in 1988, but in a few short years his paintings and other work challenged established notions of high and low art, race and class. He forged a visionary language that defied characterization.

I first came upon upon Basquiat’s name in a book my son received on his first birthday. “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” was a poem by Maya Angelou, each line accompanied by a Basquiat painting. It was most definitely not your ordinary children’s book, but I liked its powerful words and mesmerizing images. I sang Maya Angelou’s poem, especially the phrase “shadows on the wall, noises down the hall, life doesn’t frighten me at all,” to my baby son as if it were a lullaby.