Basquiat’s world in retrospect

His career may have been brief, but Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of the most prominent names in the 1980s art scene. Born in Brooklyn, he rejected his middle class roots and embraced street culture, tagging “SAMO” all over lower Manhattan. When he was awkwardly embraced by the art community in the early ‘80s, Basquiat’s oeuvre meditated on urban and pop culture and the African American experience.

The retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art features more than 100 works by the self-taught artist, including paintings, collages and an entire portfolio of drawings on view for the first time in the U.S.

“Basquiat,” Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., L.A. $5-$8; 11 and younger, free. Opens Sunday. (213) 626-6222. Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m.-midnight Saturdays; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 10.