Keith Haring

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Haring at an Early Age

Keith Haring (May 4th, 1958 – February 16th, 1990) was an artist and a social activist, whose work responded to the street culture of New York in the 1980s. Although he was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, he grew up in Kutztown and showed an interest in art from an early age. After studying graphic design at the Ivy School of Professional Art, Keith Haring moved to New York City, where he was greatly inspired by the graffiti art.

First public works

He first received public attention for his chalk drawings on the subways of New York. Business people and commuters were drawn to these pieces of art when getting off the trains. From then on, Haring’s relationship with the artistic movements which influenced his lifestyle became stronger. During 1982, Haring exhibited his series

of tarpaulins at Tony Shafrazy’s famous gallery. The “tarpaulins” were air-brush painted designs on panels of plastic sheeting, which was used by buildings on scaffolding. Haring also paused his production of graphics to create copies of famous statues, which included Michelangelo’s David, The Milo Venus’, and also copies of the ancient Egyptian and Greek amphoras.

Paintings

The main aim of Haring’s paintings is communication. His drawings represent a “visual language”, which everyone can easily and readily understand with the same ease with which he created the characters, (for example, the simple “Orange Baby” character). Haring wanted to get back in touch with a primitive type of language where the graphics symbols merges with the verbal one. “My drawings don’t try to imitate life, they try to create life…that’s a much more so-called primitive idea…I don’t use colours and lines to look life-like.” The bright colours draw the eyes of everyone to the various pieces that Haring has created, and these colours even retain their spectacular feel in art prints.

Haring's Mural in Pisa

The idea of creating the mural in Pisa happened by chance, when Haring met a Pisan student on a street in New York. The theme of the mural is that of peace and harmony in the world. The mural is located on the south wall of the church of St. Anthony, and covers 180 square metres. Each figure represents a different aspect of peace in the world, for example the woman with a baby in her arms represents maternity, and the two men supporting a dolphin refers to Man’s relationship with nature.

Death

The thirty figures in the mural show Haring’s ceaseless creative energy, which enabled him to leave behind this mural. Keith Haring died in 1990 of an HIV (AIDS)-related disease.