The Jean-Michel Basquiat I knew…

The graffiti artist turned painter became the star of the 1980s New York art scene. Since his death aged 27, his reputation has soared. On the eve of a major UK show, we speak to those who knew him bestIt’s always tempting to mythologise the dead, especially those who die young and beautiful. And if the dead person is also astonishingly gifted, then the myth becomes inevitable. Jean-Michel Basquiat was just 27 when he died, in 1988, a strikingly gorgeous young man whose stunning, genre-wre