About Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an American pop artist who first became famous for his street art in New York City in the early 1980s. Taking advantage of empty advertisement spaces in the subway, Haring began to scatter thick chalk drawings of strongly defined human figures, animals, and symbols throughout the city. His art was bold, simple, and somewhat minimalist, allowing him to create drawings very quickly. Before long, his street art covered the city, and his work became increasingly recognizable. By 1982, Haring would be invited to participate in numerous public projects, and have his work shown in high-profile exhibits alongside legendary artists like Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Early Life and Work
Haring was born in Reading Pennsylvania on May 4th, 1958. From a young age, Haring expressed interest in drawing and learned cartoon techniques from his father, who created comics as a hobby. Like many children, he was inspired by the characters of Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss, and cartoons like Bugs Bunny.
After graduating high school in 1976, Haring went on to study commercial art at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After just two years, he lost interest and dropped out, choosing to focus on his own art. In 1978, he held his first notable one-man exhibit at the Center for the Arts in Pittsburgh.
Later that same year, Haring moved to the Lower East Side to study painting at the School of Visual Arts New York City. He also studied semiotics, the influence of which becomes evident through the symbols and icons present in his work. Once in New York, Haring met many well-known street artists who inspired him to begin his subway drawings. He called the subway his “laboratory,” but also painted murals around the city on brick walls, under bridges, and the sides of buildings.
Haring’s Rise to Fame
As his drawings gained traction, Haring developed his signature style and began attracting significant attention. Haring’s artwork is characterized by visual storytelling, bold figures, and a linguistic-like sensibility, reminiscent of hieroglyphics or cave paintings. His art revolved around central themes of friendliness, love, acceptance, and the wellbeing of humankind. Major symbols in Haring’s work include faceless human figures, babies, dogs, and hearts. Many of his figures are accentuated with lines that signify movement and illumination. Other works feature more macabre, violent, and sexually overt subject matter.
Haring quickly rose to international fame. By the mid 1980s, his art was featured in Vanity Fair and Newsweek; he completed a commission for the United Nations, designed sets for MTV, had his work presented on the Times Square Spectacolor billboard, and was featured in the Art Biennale in Venice.
As part of his inclination for street art and other public murals, Haring strongly believed that art is for everyone and should be widely accessible. In 1986, he opened the Pop Shop, a storefront shop where he made his artwork available at reasonable prices. There, he sold clothing, posters, and other items featuring his art. Although he was criticized for the “commercialization” of his art, Haring opened the Pop Shop with the intention of breaking the boundary between the working class and high art.
Later Work, Legacy, and Death
From this time, Haring’s work became increasingly sociopolitical by nature. As an openly gay man, some of his art aimed to spread awareness about AIDS (such as 1989’s Silence = Death) and the acceptance of homosexuality. He also created work to battle the crack epidemic, seen in his famous Crack is Wack mural from 1986. Other works display a strong opposition to organized religion, such as his Ten Commandments series.
In February of 1990, Keith Haring passed away due to complications with AIDS. He was 31 years old. Since his death, Haring’s work has only grown more recognizable, appearing around the globe on t-shirts, posters, stickers, and skateboards. His art represents a simple, universal language, easily understood by all who encounter it. In his wake, Haring’s work continues to inspire countless generations of creatives, including masters like Banksy, Sam Cox, Simpson’s creator Matt Groening, and Shepard Fairey.
