About Keith Haring
Responsible for bridging the gap between the popular “cartooning” style and society’s standard of fine art, Keith Haring’s iconic artwork has been engraved into the minds of people all over the world. The beginning of Haring’s career saw him appropriating empty advertising spaces in public spaces like subways as a means to display his work and make a name for himself in New York City as a street artist. Using simple shapes, bold colors, and universal symbols, Haring’s signature style allowed him to catch the eyes and capture the hearts of people from all countries and creeds.
By 1982, Haring would be recognized in over 100 exhibitions across the globe. His art allowed him to not only express his unique view of the human condition, but he was able to use his fame and position to advocate for causes that were dear to him.
Early Life
Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1959 in Reading, Pennsylvania. The eldest of four siblings, Haring’s cartoon-like style was a direct result of his artistic home environment, as well as the popular culture of the young artist’s time. Two of Haring’s biggest influences, Charles Shultz and Walt Disney, rose to fame in 1959, when stories started being told through cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and The Peanuts. Keith Haring drew heavily from these influences, paying homage to them through his own artwork. Along with the influence of the prominent popular culture figures that enveloped young Haring’s mind, his father also played a notable role in the artist’s formative years. After finishing up his work day in the small town of Kutztown, Allen Haring would teach his eldest son how to draw circles and sketch doodles. Eventually, the two began adding faces to these cartoons, marking the beginning of the Haring-esque style we see everywhere today.
As Keith entered his teen years and started high school, he began to feel the pressure of conformity placed on him by the religious hometown. This was evident through his families commitment to weekly church services and attending church summer camp every year. Growing up in a community that followed the beliefs of the United Church of Christ, the budding artist began to resort to different types of drugs to alienate himself from what he believed to be the soul crushing uniformity associated with the town in which he grew up.
Attending Grateful Dead concerts, experimenting with various drugs, and traveling across the country selling anti-Nixon and band shirts, Haring’s academics quickly began to face the repercussions of his attempts to break away from the religious community he grew up in. Once graduated from high school, Haring pursued a degree in commercial art. Both his high school counselors and his mother emphasized the importance of having a commercial art background in order to make a career out of his passion. In 1976, the artist left his hometown to attend Pittsburgh’s Ivy School of Professional Art.
While attending, the staunch reality of commercial art became clear to him. Haring realized he was unable to create the art that he wanted to, instead being forced to focus on the requirements established by a commercial art degree. He dropped out of the Ivy School in 1978 after attending for 2 semesters, and instead began to attend The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where he was given his first solo exhibition. The one man exhibit featured Haring’s works that were inspired by his recent exposure to Pierre Alechinsky. Alechinsky influence inspired Haring to create large images that featured a combination of text and characters.
Becoming Keith Haring
Being away from the pressures associated with Kutztown and the religious foundation engraved into the community, Haring began to explore the feelings of loneliness and societal pressure that had weighed on him ever since he was a young child. During this time, he began to explore and come to terms with his sexuality, coming out as gay. Coming to terms with his sexuality allowed for the liberation he had been seeking. As his true identity began to blossom, his art followed suit.
Following his first ever solo exhibition, at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center in 1978, he made the decision to relocate to New York’s Lower East Side, enrolling in the School of Visual Arts.
While living in New York, Keith Haring spent his time drawing graffiti with chalk in the subways. Taking advantage of the wide array of empty advertising boards and using them to create his own stories through art, he quickly began to gain prominence. As his art continued to remain commonplace throughout the city, his recognition among the public grew. This recognition was fueled by Haring’s unique, stylistic work, as well as his signature figures, which included universal symbols like people, dogs, hearts, and faces.
With the influx of fame, opportunities began to come knocking for Haring. He was one of 12 New York artists chosen to participate in the public Art Fund where artists had their work displayed in Times Square during January of 1982. With the city’s spotlight now on the Kutztown runaway, the artist began to sell
more and more works from his own collection. In October 1982, Haring held an exhibit at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery, collaborating with prominent graffiti artist Angel “LA II” Ortiz. It was a major success, with over 4,000 people in attendance. Keith’s symbolic interpretations of the city, its people, life, death and the overall social consciousness that the artist personified in his art became engraved into the consciousness of the city itself.
Haring's Golden Age
Immediately following his success in New York, Haring was invited to exhibit his work internationally. Haring received exhibition requests from Holland, Italy, Belgium, and Japan. Crossing barriers of language, geography, and culture, his images commented on a multitude of social issues which allowed for the fusing of social commentary and graffiti. Through his work, Haring made social commentary pertaining to his own beliefs: advocating his support of UNICEF, his vocal disdain towards apartheid in South Africa, and the promotion of equality for disadvantaged groups.
During this time, while Haring saw an influx in recognition, the AIDS epidemic continued to ravage the country. As a gay man and an activist, he began to focus his murals around spreading awareness of AIDS and making art that cautioned young people about the dangers of unsafe sex. Haring’s mission to raise social consciousness led to the further spread of his status on the international stage. This became apparent when, at the age of 27, the artist was invited to show the entirety of his work at the Bordeaux Contemporary Art Museum in France and the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands. With the spotlight continuously growing, Haring worked with multiple artists and performers that held prominence amongst the creative scene of his time. Holding collaborations with Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scarf, and William S. Burroughs, Keith’s star status only grew. By 1986, the artist was mingling with celebrities such as Madonna, Bill T. Jones, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer, and Yoko Ono.
Staying true to his original intent, Haring wanted to ensure that his art was always accessible, just as it was in the subway. In 1986, the artist opened a retail shop located in New York City’s SoHo Neighborhood on Lafayette Street. At this location, which he called his “Pop Shop,” customers could purchase Keith Haring hats, shirts, prints, and many other products inspired by Haring’s art. Despite the fear of his work becoming a monotonous piece of pop culture, with the mass commodification and commercialization of his art, it was pertinent to the artist that his art remained unrestricted. He furthered this goal through creating public murals and holding workshops in schools and museums.
Legacy and Death
In 1988, Keith Haring was diagnosed with AIDS. By 1989, the artist had established the Keith Haring Foundation, tasking them with the goal of providing funding to AIDS organizations, allocating funds to children’s programs, and promoting public accessibility of his art. During this time, his work shifted to focus on AIDS awareness, symbolism of his own illness and the emotional turmoil that he had begun to experience following his diagnosis. Continuing to create, Haring continued to spread awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, while also furthering the awareness of safer sex through his creations.
Keith Haring died of AIDS related complications on February 16, 1990. He was 31 years old. On May 4, 1990 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York a memorial was held in the artist’s honor. Over 1,000 people were in attendance.
Keith Haring’s work continues to be shown throughout a variety of museums, both in the United States and internationally. Along with this, his worldwide recognition is continuously fueled both by his influence of the genre of art and his previous commitments to public accessibility. Although Keith Haring has passed away, his art continues to keep his spirit close. Promoting social equality and spreading awareness in places where action is needed, Haring has inspired countless generations of artists, creatives, and ordinary people. His spirit continues to live on in every corner of the world.