Keith Haring (American, 1958-1990)
Title: Fertility #1, 1983
Title: Fertility #1, 1983
Medium: Prints and multiples, Silkscreen
Demensions: 42x50 in. (106.7x127 cm.)
Pop Art
Catalogue:
“The reason that the
‘baby’ has become my logo or signature is that it is the purest and most
positive experience of human existence,” ~Keith Haring
Keith Haring Biography
(1958 - 1990)
American artist Keith Haring was best known for his
graffiti-inspired drawings, which he first made in subway stations and later
exhibited in museums.
Artist Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958, in Reading,
Pennsylvania. He moved to New York City in 1978 and began using the city as his
canvas, making chalk drawings in subway stations. His art was eventually seen
everywhere from public murals and nightclubs to galleries and museums around
the world. He was also known for his activism in promoting AIDS awareness. He
died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990, at age 31.
When Haring arrived in New York, it was home to a thriving
underground art scene. Haring befriended fellow emerging artists like
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf, who shared his interest in the colorful
and transgressive graffiti art of the city's streets. Haring and these other
artists organized exhibitions at downtown nightclubs and other alternative
locations, where art, music and fashion all came together in a dynamic mix.
Beyond the clubs, Haring began using the city as his canvas.
Riding the subway, he noticed the black paper rectangles of empty advertising
panels on station walls; using white chalk, he began filling these black panels
with simple, quickly drawn pictures. His signature images included dancing
figures, a "radiant baby" (a crawling infant emitting rays of light),
a barking dog, a flying saucer, large hearts, and figures with televisions for
heads. These graffiti drawings attracted the attention of New York commuters,
as well as the city authorities: Haring was arrested for vandalism on numerous
occasions.
Haring soon began to apply his universally recognizable imagery
to freestanding drawings and paintings. The energy and optimism of his art,
with its bold lines and bright colors, brought him popularity with a wide
audience. He had his first solo exhibition in 1981, at the Westbeth Painters
Space in Manhattan. In 1982 he began to show his art at the Tony Shafrazi
Gallery, which would represent him for the rest of his career. Throughout the
1980s, Haring's work was exhibited widely both within the United States and
internationally. He also collaborated with other artists and performers,
including Andy Warhol, Grace Jones and William S. Burroughs.
Always wanting to make his art more accessible, Haring opened a
retail store called the Pop Shop in New York City's SoHo neighborhood in 1986;
the shop sold posters, T-shirts and other affordable items featuring Haring's
signature designs. Over the brief span of his career, the artist completed more
than 50 public works, including the anti-drug mural Crack is Wack in a
Harlem playground and an illuminated, animated billboard of his "radiant
baby" image for New York's Times Square. He also hosted numerous art
workshops for children.
In 1988, Haring was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, he
created the Keith Haring Foundation to support children's programs and
organizations dedicated to raising AIDS awareness.
Keith Haring died in New York on February 16, 1990, of
AIDS-related complications. He was 31 years old. His art is still exhibited
worldwide, and many of his works are owned by prestigious museums, including
the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the
Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France. Haring's art, with its deceptively
simple style and its deeper themes of love, death, war and social harmony,
continues to appeal strongly to viewers
Artist Statement:
"In all my work there is some
degree of content that is more obvious, communicating a specific or a general
idea that people will get. But a lot of times the work is ambiguous enough that
it can interpreted by whoever." -Keith Haring
“Anyway, I’ve always responded to Keith’s art.
From the very beginning, there was lot of innocence and a joy that was coupled
with a brutal awareness of the world. But it was all presented in a childlike
way. The fact is, there’s a lot of irony in Keith’s work, just as there’s a lot
of irony in my work. And that’s what attracts me to his stuff. I mean, you have
these bold colors and those childlike figures and a lot of babies, but if you
really look at those works closely, they’re really very powerful and really
scary. And so often, his art deals with sexuality – and it’s a way to point up
people’s sexual prejudices, their sexual phobias. In that way, Keith’s art is
also very political.”–Madonna
Element and principle design:
Keith Haring art shows how simple shapes and lines can create a complex meaning and demonstrate movement and balance. The bending in the joints and the radiating patterns around each figure creates the sense of movement.
His bold and bright colors are used to separate each figure into a space. The usage of warm or cool colors give a contrast or emphasis on the figures.
Connection to the theme:
The pregnant women dancing under a crawling baby is what attracted me to this painting and the reason I chose it for this show. I believe that all life should be celebrated and that mothers have a connection through the experience of motherhood. As these mothers dance for fertility under the baby, I feel that all women should have the opportunity to have a child. Sadly, many women can not experience birthing a child. I feel that these women are dancing for hope for those who can not become pregnant. I connect with Haring's words, “The reason that the ‘baby’ has become my logo or signature is that it is the purest and most positive experience of human existence.” I too agree that birth is the purest and most positive experience of human existence!
Youtube video:
Published on Mar 28, 2014
Artist Keith Haring took the New York City subway system by storm in the 1980s, with his drawings appearing on the walls of hundreds of stations. His art is known for expressing concepts of death, sexuality and war. Charles Osgood takes a look at how Haring managed to get his works up, in this profile first broadcast on the "CBS Evening News" on October 20, 1982.
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