Back to Show
Independent Lens
Jean-Michel Basquait: Turning Street Energy Into High Art
Basquiat had a special talent for taking "street energies" and making them into high art. During his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a wunderkind and a phenomenon. Discovered through his graffiti art in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side, he sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and later became best friends with Andy Warhol.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:43:28
Hazing reveals the tradition of underground rituals that are abusive and sometimes deadly.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:19
An activist detective searches for missing migrants in rural South Texas.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:48
Inside the family-run newspaper keeping local journalism alive.

Unlock with PBS Passport
54:25
When homosexuality was considered an illness to be “cured," LGBTQ activists fought back.

55:45
The murder of a police sergeant tests the D.A.’s resolve to never seek the death penalty.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:35:39
Meet the indomitable Dolores Huerta, who led the fight for racial and labor justice.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:48
Meet the Patels premieres on PBS’s Independent Lens on Monday, December 26, 2016.

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:02
Part Two of The Graduates

Unlock with PBS Passport
51:01
Primera parte de Los Graduados

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:32
Part One of The Graduates

Unlock with PBS Passport
54:08
The rich culinary tradition of soul food and its relevance to black cultural identity.