NOT, I CAN ACTUALLY DRAW Jean-Michel Basquiat  (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American  artist . His career in art began as a  graffiti artist  in  New York City  in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced  Neo-expressionist  painting. Basquiat died of a  heroin overdose  on August 12, 1988,