Keith Haring

Keith Haring

Untitled (Self-Portrait), 1985

Ink on Paper

22 x 30 inches 

56 x 76 cm

November 1, 1985

This is the first work I ever saw of Haring's. When I was young I saw this clip, at least once, and perhaps only once, on the non profit children's television series Sesame St. Keith Haring's artwork has always remained vivid in my mind since first seeing his work.

I am pursing the Arts. A life full of it. I want to be a story teller - using whatever medium that is right at the time - I want to tell stories to grand audiences - the masses. Much like Keith I am inspired by Walt Disney and to a lesser extent, Andy Warhol. I am fascinated by the stories of Keith's extraordinary energy when creating his work and in his life as an artist, his ability to make an audience that he has never met feel like they know him through the media, and his support of charitable organisations- leaving a world behind him that was better for having him in it.

Keith drawing with white chalk on black paper in the New York City subway.

Untitled, 1982

Chalk on paper

Photographer: Ivan Dalla Tana

Untitled, 1987

Graphite on Paper

April 3, 1987

Study for "Red Dog for Landois" - Munster Project

Born on May 4th, 1958, in Reading, Pennsylvania and raised in the nearby Kutztown, Hariing developed an appreciation for art at a young age. Key influences being Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney, he would later state that Andy Warhol and Walt Disney were his heroes. In 1978 Haring moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Arts (SVA). As a student here Haring was exposed to a wide array of arts and experiment in many however he remained loyal to drawing. It was here that Haring was introduced to a thriving alternative arts community. With a desire to reach a greater and greater audience Haring took to drawing on black paper panels throughout the subway with white chalk. Between 1980 - 1985 hundreds of these drawings were produced by Haring. After year sin New York Haring began to receive international recognition for his works and in 1986 opened the "Pop Shop", with the encouragement of Warhol, which was a retail shop located in SoHo that seller merchandise and accessories that were designed by Haring an depicted his famous drawing. This reflected Haring's admiration for Walk Disney's ability to share his art with the masses and Haring's own ambitions to imitate the move. Between 1982-1989 Haring created over 50 public artworks in dozens of cities around the world. Theses works were often for charity organisations, hospitals or orphanages.  Keith Haring died on February 16, 1990 of AIDS-related complications. Two years before I was born. He was 31.

Untitled, 1985

Marker on Paper

23 x 23 inches 

58 x 58 cm

Andy Mouse

Andy Mouse, 1986
Marker on Paper

Tributes to "his heros" Walt Disney and Andy Warhol 

Ignorance = Fear, 1989

Poster

24 x 43 1/4 inches 

61 x 110 centimeters

Keith, towards his last years, raised huge awareness for AIDS.

Keith's style relied immensely on line and its weight. He created incredible drawings with so much action happening in a scene, combining individually simple figures and symbols that, collectively, created complex images.

Sources:

Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Walt Disney

Edited by Bruce D. Kurtz

with contributions by Bruce Hamilton and Geoffrey Blum, Dave Hickey, and Bruce B. Kurtz

1922 Prestel- Verlag, Munich and the Phoenix Art Museum

http://www.haring.com

The Keith Haring Foundation • 676 Broadway • New York, New York 10012 • ©1997–2012

Keith Haring Journals

Peguin Books

Peguin Group (USA) Ince.,

ISMN 978-0-14-3107597-8