The troubled young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat began his career with a spray can, blasting his jarring figures on subway cars and old fridges in dumpsters. Then he started painting with a brush, producing thousands of works before his death at 27, from a heroin overdose. The paintings employ a mixture of imagery taken from children’s books, the Aztecs, and also inspired by his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage. The energy of Basquiat’s visual language keeps it as alive today as the moment he painted it, and the subjects he tackled—racism, social injustice, and consumer capitalism—feel more important than ever. This exhibition of 50 emotionally-charged works deciphers the semiotics of Basquiat’s art. —Elena Clavarino