Fertility 4 is a 1983 screenprint on paper by Keith Haring. For Haring, art and activism were synonymous and his work explored and exposed social injustice and the human experience with an urgency. The HIV/AIDS crisis affected pregnant people and their newborn children fast and furiously, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the early 1980s. In response, Haring turned to creating the Fertility portfolio. The series navigates the complex juxtapositions of childbirth, symbolizing hope for the future, with the harsh reality of disease, poverty, and international neglect that afflict communities in Africa.

Fertility 4 features rich symbolism, despite the apparent simplicity of line and form. Haring’s highly recognizable forms offer both a codified visual language not unlike hieroglyphics and a transmutability with retailored color, line, pattern, and movement indications. The pregnant figures of Fertility 4 are placed directly in the thick of what insinuates the epidemic, metaphorically conveyed by spots on the ground beneath their feet and is personified by the central, otherworldly figure that fetters the analogous pregnant forms physically. However, “Pregnancy glow” is not lost on the figures of Fertility 4, bound by their expectancies and a spirited “high five”. Haring’s comforting spirit shines through with his trademark “Radiant Baby” crawling along the ground, seemingly enclosed in a protective bubble and untouched by disease, serving as a powerful symbol of hope and a new generation unencumbered by the burdens of illness. The central ghostly figure is imbued with an ankh, the Egyptian “key of eternal life,” which hints at the potential for pain to foster a sense of community. Through the interplay of hope and despair in this artwork, Keith Haring seeks to galvanize action against the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic, encourage an outlook of optimism, and rally for mutual aid and support through adversity.

See also: Fertility 1, Fertility 2, Fertility 3, and Fertility 5.