Keith Haring

Artist

• Born: May 4, 1958
• Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania
• Died: February 16, 1990
• Place of death: New York, New York

Education: Ivy School of Professional Art; School of Visual Arts

Significance: Keith Haring was an American street artist known for his pop-art and graffiti-style artwork. Inspired by the graffiti and street murals he witnessed while living in New York City, Haring's career focused on introducing elements of popular culture into a high art setting. He used bright, colorful palettes to grab viewers' attention and engage them in social and political commentary. His success helped promote urban street art as an authentic art form.

Background

Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, where he developed an interest in art at an early age. His father was a casual artist who drew cartoons as a hobby. The young Haring learned to draw with the help of his father. He was particularly fond of the animations found in the works of Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, and Looney Toons cartoons.

Haring graduated high school in 1976 and enrolled at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied graphic art, but he became disillusioned with a career as a graphic artist. He dropped out after two semesters but remained in Pittsburgh for independent study. His developing tastes were greatly influenced by the works of Belgian artist Pierre Alechinsky and Bulgarian sculptor Christo. Haring produced his own artwork during this period and was invited to do a solo exhibition at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center in 1978. The exhibit bolstered the young artist's confidence, encouraging him to take his art more seriously. That year, he decided to move to New York City.

In New York, Haring enrolled at the School of Visual Arts. The city introduced Haring to a different kind of art scene: street graffiti. The buildings and subways of New York featured endless graffiti images by artists such as Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, with whom Haring developed friendships. He started experimenting with chalk drawings in empty subway advertising spaces. The simple white chalk drawings garnered the attention of subway riders and became heated conversation pieces. Riders were eager to know what the drawings meant, and Haring happily engaged the spectators in conversation. The feedback he received helped shape the direction of his stylistic choices.

Haring created thousands of public drawings between 1980 and 1985. His drawings usually featured cartoonish characters and symbols that became his trademark. With his artist, poet, and musician friends, Haring organized exhibitions of street art at venues across New York City. Two of these spaces—the Mudd Club and Club 57—became popular destinations for New York's alternate art scene. Alongside clubs and restaurants, Haring's venue selections also included abandoned buildings that the artist illicitly occupied for the occasion.

Life's Work

By the early 1980s, Haring had made a name for himself within New York's rebel art community. He accepted a representation deal with art gallery owner Tony Shafrazi and made his fine art debut at Shafrazi's Soho neighborhood art gallery in 1982. His work garnered international attention after Haring was featured at several prominent exhibitions, including the Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany; the Sao Paulo Biennial; and the Whitney Biennial in New York.

Haring spent the 1980s spreading his work around the world. He created multiple public murals and artwork across Europe, South America, and Australia throughout the decade. His travels influenced his style. The artwork of ancient cultures such as Central America's Maya, Brazil's Bahia, and Australia's Aboriginals greatly influenced Haring's artistic views.

In 1986, Haring was commissioned to create a mural for the one hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. He collaborated with more than nine hundred children while designing the mural. That same year, he opened an art merchandise store in downtown Manhattan called Pop Shop. The store was decorated in his characteristic doodles, and it sold toys, t-shirts, posters, buttons, and magnets bearing his art. The following year, he created two murals in France and Germany. In Paris, he produced a mural outside a children's hospital. In Berlin, he created a mural on the west side of the Berlin Wall prior to its destruction. Haring's work became more politically charged as the decade wore on. He created art specifically made to raise awareness of issues such as the stigmatized disease acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and apartheid in South Africa.

This period also saw Haring designing art for the commercial world. He worked on an ad campaign for Absolut Vodka and created watch designs for the Swatch brand. Haring also started to paint his work onto human bodies. A number of celebrities featured his work painted on their bodies during the 1980s, including the singer and model Grace Jones. His work brought him into contact with a number of prominent New York artists, such as Andy Warhol. The fine arts community remained wary of Haring's work, however, and felt hesitant about its place in the contemporary art canon.

Haring was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. An active proponent of AIDS awareness campaigns, he founded the Keith Haring Foundation the following year to raise funds for AIDS advocacy and research. He continued to create a large amount of artwork throughout the remainder of the 1980s and until his death in 1990.

Impact

Haring's work was an act of rebellion against the elitist fine arts world and its many restrictions. The artist's success helped popularize and legitimize urban street art, and his work continues to be featured in many prominent museums around the world. Haring's boldness paved the way for future street artists such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and Swoon.

Personal Life

Haring died on February 16, 1990, from complications related to AIDS. He was thirty-one years old. He was survived by his parents, Allen and Joan Haring, and three sisters.

Principal Works: Paintings

• Untitled, 1982
• Free South Africa, 1985
• Crack is Wack, 1986
• Rebel with Many Causes, 1989

Bibliography

"Bio." Haring.com, www.haring.com/!/about-haring/bio. Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.

"Keith Haring." The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-haring-keith.htm#biography‗header. Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.

"Keith Haring." Artsy, www.artsy.net/artist/keith-haring. Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.

"Keith Haring, Artist, Dies at 31; Career Began in Subway Graffiti." New York Times, 17 Feb. 1990, www.nytimes.com/1990/02/17/obituaries/keith-haring-artist-dies-at-31-career-began-in-subway-graffiti.html. Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.

Raga, Suzanne. "10 Pop Art Facts about Keith Haring" Mental Floss, 4 May 2016, mentalfloss.com/article/78388/10-pop-art-facts-about-keith-haring. Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.