Silence = Death (“Silence equals Death”) by Keith Haring is a silkscreen print from 1989. The print’s main subject is a large pink triangle, which highlights a maelstrom of distressed individuals in the background. Towards the end of Haring’s life, his art began to center around bringing awareness to a myriad of social issues—some that he had experienced first hand.

Being diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, Keith Haring spent the last two years of his life creating as much art as he could. During that time, his work largely revolved around a sense of urgency to spread awareness about the AIDS crisis, and the US governments neglectful treatment of AIDS victims.

Silence = Death is widely recognized by the pink triangle that rests at the center of the print. During World War II, the Nazi regime used an inverted pink triangle to mark homosexual prisoners of the concentration camps. The geometry of the triangle was meant to symbolize a homosexual individual’s place at the bottom of the established social hierarchy. This symbol was later adopted by a collective in New York City called “Silence Equals Death” and made into a poster. The collective focused on raising consciousness about the AIDS crisis. Eventually, the Silence Equals Death project turned the rights of the poster over to ACT UP, who popularized the pink triangle symbol through their advocacy.

In an attempt to remake this art as his own, Haring used his skill of implementing symbolism within his work and removed all the words. He then replaced it with drawings of figures closing their eyes. The image is meant to further personify the direct harm that is caused by those that sit idly by as the AIDS epidemic has raged on.