Keith Haring by Darren Pih

Keith Haring (1958 -1990) is widely recognised for his colourful paintings, drawings, sculptures and murals. Haring exploded onto the early 1980s New York art scene with his vivid graffiti-inspired drawings, many of which found exposure in the public realm, such as the Times Square billboard broadcast of his famous Radiant Child in 1982.

Haring’s instantly recognisable `cartoon-like’ imagery drew on the iconography of contemporary pop and club culture and looked back to the patterns and rhythms of Islamic and Japanese art and primitive wall paintings. Furthermore, his work also reflected a profound commitment to social justice and activism and raised numerous issues that remain relevant today, including the AIDS crisis, the Cold War and fear of nuclear attack, racism, the excesses of capitalism and environmental degradation.

Featuring around fifty works supported by rarely seen photography, film and archival documents from the Keith Haring Foundation, this accessible book will not only introduce Haring to a new audience but also throw fresh light on an artist whose work remains symptomatic of the subcultural and creative energy of 1980s New York.

Three short texts exploring various aspects of Haring’s practice will be interspersed with illustrations of his works and a rolling timeline featuring key social and political events of the 1980s (from the election of Reagan in 1980 and the explosion of hip hop from the underground movement to the global phenomenon to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989) and Haring’s responses to them. The publication also aims to include select and unpublished reminiscences from those who collaborated and interacted with Haring, including performers such as Madonna and Grace Jones and artists Jenny Holzer and Yoko Ono.