The art of Keith Haring

Background

Born May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Keith Haring’s destiny seemed evident from his earliest days. In his hometown of Kutztown he took keen interest illustrations from the works of Walt Disney, Doctor Seuss, and his own amateur cartoonist father. He learned to draw all throughout his adolescence as counselors and others around him pushed him towards a practical career in commercial illustration. After graduating high school, Haring studied at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh.

Very quickly, Haring realized that commercial graphic design was not his path and moved to New York, enrolling in the School of Visual Arts at the age of . There, amid the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple he found kindred spirits in the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, and Andy Warhol(also present in this online gallery). Perhaps his most important discovery, however, was that empty ad space in the New York Subway were excellent places to experiment with his craft. Starting at the age of 22, Haring’s graffiti(which saw him arrested more than a couple of times) became the seeds of his eventual success and solidified his general style along with becoming a cultural icon for New York. Haring famously dubbed the soon prolifically doodled subways, his “Laboratory”, which became home to hundreds of his subway drawings over the course of his life.

To either side of this section can be seen haring at work on two different unnamed subway drawings at two different times. Herein these images can be seen his career-defining style: Heavy, bold lines define the easily recognizable images of objects, people, and animals. To the left, a giant hand waves burning money above a crowd of four people with arms outstretched above themselves, almost pleading. To the right, an "83" is in place of a face on a human figure with a sort of halo around their head as they cradle a child. Both figures are chalk drawn directly onto black paper meant for ads.

Haring, 25 at the time and in the middle of his 5 year long experiment in his laboratory, didn't always go down into the subways with the intention to deliver a specific message. Instead, Haring drew these images likely because they were what he wanted to draw at the time, true to his form of not dwelling on any one project for extended periods of time. In his impulsive and inspired pieces can be found themes of corporate greed, class-ism, inequality, poverty but also opposite the page: birth, hope, the idea of a fresh start to a new year. All of these themes contribute to the pop culture philosophy of being relatable. Haring's forms are clearly defined and easily recognizable.

Crack is Wack

The Keith Haring Foundation • 676 Broadway • New York, New York 10012 • ©1997–2019

Crack is Wack, front

In 1986, Haring decided to vent his frustrations concerning both the national epidemic of drug abuse, and his inability to help one of his studio assistants, Benny, curb his own addiction to crack. Haring did so by painting a two-sided mural on a handball court wall and in doing so, created one of pop art's most influential and enduring works. An interesting caveat to this piece and many of his later works, is Haring's explicit message he wanted to send through the mural. More and more of Haring's work post-laboratory is ideally, conceptually, and politically charged as will be seen later on.

Boasting an impressive and extremely vibrant orange base, Haring's archetypal heavy black lines clearly define a massive skeleton clutching drug paraphernalia and a burning piece of money. The figure is superimposed atop a sea of bodies, all writhing under a massive cloud within which is Haring's message: Crack is Wack.

It is clear that Haring is calling on familiar themes of governmental insufficiency, tragedy, and societal failings but the overriding message is that crack ruins lives perhaps not only just those of the addict but also going so far as to affect those around the addict represented by the sea of bodies.

The reverse of the wall sports a contrasting white, orange, white striped backdrop. A snake pursues a human with an x on their chest with its jaws stretched wide. Again, the message can be plainly seen in black: Crack is Wack! Seven figures similarly marked with black on their chests dance below.

The snake lends itself to a symbol of addiction, but the panic in the figure it is chasing is contrasted by the apparent joy or at the very least feverish dancing in the seven figures below. It is almost like the figure above has been caught by the snake that is crack and has now joined that dancing group of figures and become marked with an x.

Crack is Wack, back

The Keith Haring Foundation • 676 Broadway • New York, New York 10012 • ©1997–2019

Berlin Wall Mural

Yet more of Keith Haring's social activism can be seen in this work, also from 1986. Haring had stated that his mural was meant to be a symbol which would subvert politicians' schemes for a continued separation of East and West Berlin.

A field of gold is covered by a chain of human figures in the colors of the German flag: Black and red. The figures share many features, such as light and movement lines around their bodies and circles in their chests.

Unity is the overriding message in this work, undoubtedly. Every single figure is literally bound together, without division. Their hands connect directly to the next figures' feet throughout the length of wall. Another symbol of unity can be found in the circles of the figures' chests, their hearts. The movement implied by the lines radiating off of the figures is almost like a shaking of the chain to bring down the wall: Haring's goal for the mural.

Ignorance=fear

Keith Haring was both an openly gay man, and a fierce advocate for safe sex. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 after symptoms manifested in a number of past partners. Wanting to break the stigma of discussing "Gay Cancer" Haring took to the studio to create works that would raise awareness and encourage talks on the subject.

Two horizontal stripes of teal border a middle band of red, separated by black lines. Three yellow figures sharing pink crosses on their chests embody the Three Wise Monkeys of proverbial Japanese folklore. One figure covers their eyes, another their ears, and the last their mouth. The words "Ignorance = Fear" are spelled in black across the top teal stripe while "Silence = Death" and "Fight Aids Act Up" run across the bottom stripe. The words are separated by a pink triangle between them.

The titular "Ignorance = Fear" references the lack of knowledge both in the public and scientific domains. The lack of knowledge contributes to the fear among those affected and leads to "Silence = Death". People at the time feared or did not care to speak about the disease and so led to death. Haring wanted to bring that into the limelight as an AIDS activist throughout his life. The pink triangle is actually a reference to a previous piece called "Silence = Death" in which a massive pink triangle is filled with figures representing members of the homosexual community afflicted by the horrible disease. The pink triangle was also a symbol used by the Nazis in WWII to mark homosexuals for death in a manner similar to the yellow Stars of David used to identify those of Jewish descent.

Pop Shop

Keith Haring founded Pop Shop in SoHo, Manhattan in 1986 for the purpose of sharing his art with everyone. Haring's venture was met with mixed reactions from the art community. Some saw him as selling out, throwing artistic integrity to the wayside in place of financial gain. Haring argued that what he was doing was the opposite of selling out. Pop Shop served as a way for him to reach more people and allow everyone to have one of his paintings, not just curators and galleries. The first pop shop sold paintings, apparel, and gift items as well as having murals covering every square inch of its surface, all in Haring's unique style of course.

Pop Shop is not a piece of art in the traditional sense as it also serves as a functional business, but it can be most closely identified as an installation. The actual murals themselves are reminiscent of Haring's early work in his lab. The white walls, floor, and ceiling are crawling with figures, symbols, and images made in his style: people, crosses, circles, and other esoteric shapes mesmerize any and all who enter the shop. Like in his original days, Haring's murals across Pop Shop were not explicitly planned out. They are rather testaments to his love of creating for the sake of itself and the creation of things that are just plain fun to look at.