It was rare to find an African American being so prominent within the New York art scene and this artist was keen to use this opportunity to draw attention to some issues which he felt had long since been ignored, or misunderstood. Most of his colleagues were middle class and white, making this artist's work particularly unique. Despite his different background he was encouraged by most within the artistic community, certainly fellow artists, and he was able to overcome any other obstacles placed in his way by the less liberally minded.
There is a lot more colour within Created Equal than Caucasian, Negro, with Basquiat swirling tones of blue across much of the background. The content features a black man in chains, underlining how the principal of being created equally in the US does not actually exist. Basquiat felt that his own community were frequently oppressed and wanted to draw attention to this situation. He would revisit this theme many times, underlining its importance to him. His use of lettering within his paintings allowed clear references to elements of society such as quotes from treaties or other legal frameworks.
Basquiat's time as a graffiti artist was clearly visible across his career and he never lost this charming self expression which fired his creative ideas. He would become one of the most famous African American artists of all time and helped to promote the concerns of his community to a global audience. Most of his artworks was quickly picked up by private collectors who correctly predicted a huge rise in demand for his work that has come around in the past few decades. Currently this interest is increasing at an even faster rate, if anything, as some of the issues mentioned by the artist receive an even greater focus within the mainstream media.
