Twenty-four-year-old Samuel de Saboia has been dubbed ‘the next Basquiat’ by the Brazilian media, a title the artist finds bittersweet, given that the Brooklyn-born painter died of a drug overdose aged 27. “I just don’t like how the story ends,” says De Saboia over Zoom, casually sitting on the floor in a sparkly black vest top. “There are definitely parts of [his life] we all want, but I prefer to create a narrative where I don’t spin off that way.” That said, there are undeniable similarities between the two.
Like Basquiat, De Saboia is mild-mannered, friendly, talented beyond their years, and well-known for large gestural paintings that allude to their personal history, spiritualism and heritage.
De Saboia has been recognised for their art since the
