The Search for Samo: Voodoo Universe’s Pilgrimage to Basquiat

The Search for Samo: Voodoo Universe’s Pilgrimage to Basquiat June 2, 2015

Basquiat's Grave photo by Lilith Dorsey 2015. All rights reserved.
Basquiat’s Grave photo by Lilith Dorsey 2015. All rights reserved.

 

On numerous occasions I have set out to find the grave of Jean Michel Basquiat. There are many famous dead buried here in my hometown of Brooklyn, but none I admire as much as Basquiat. Many say his work references Haitian Vodou, but there is no evidence Basquiat truly embraced these connections. He did however do things differently, there is tell that towards the end of his life he traveled to New Orleans for the world famous Jazzfest, and there bought himself some gris-gris powder (herbal spell.)

His art itself is magick, power, and invocation writ both large and small. In Widow Basquiat his partner Jennifer Clement recalls that Jean-Michel sprinkled water around MOMA once which she refers to as one of his “Voodoo tricks.” Robert Farris Thompson, Yale professor and author of Flash of the Spirit told me once that Basquiat was his favorite artist, however he believes the artist knew little about traditional Haitian Vodou practices.

In any case this past Memorial Day weekend we travelled to the source itself to leave offerings and honor his spirit.

 


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