Biography
Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an American artist born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He came to notice in the early 1980s drawing in white chalk on the blank advertising panels of the New York subway, hundreds of times over, until his clear line and faceless figures became instantly recognisable.
His work rests on a fertile contradiction: a childlike graphic vocabulary put to work on subjects that are anything but, from drugs and racism to apartheid and, above all, AIDS. He painted Crack Is Wack in Harlem in 1986 on the wall of a handball court, without permission, and the city ended up landmarking it rather than erasing it.
He died of AIDS at 31, leaving a body of public work that was deliberately given away: most of his murals were painted for free for hospitals, schools and daycare centres. Only about thirty survive worldwide.
His work rests on a fertile contradiction: a childlike graphic vocabulary put to work on subjects that are anything but, from drugs and racism to apartheid and, above all, AIDS. He painted Crack Is Wack in Harlem in 1986 on the wall of a handball court, without permission, and the city ended up landmarking it rather than erasing it.
He died of AIDS at 31, leaving a body of public work that was deliberately given away: most of his murals were painted for free for hospitals, schools and daycare centres. Only about thirty survive worldwide.
The site contains a total of 5 artworks by Keith Haring in 4 countries.
Artworks (5)
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