This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, Keith Haring became known for graffiti art
and cartoon art and became a leading figure in the New York
contemporary art world of the second half of the 20th century.
He
was raised in Kutztown and then after high school, moved to Pittsburgh
and began to study commercial art. In 1978, he moved to New York City
and studied at the School of Visual Arts where he and artist Kenny
Scharf became companions.
Haring began to experiment with
graffiti, painting first on subway walls. He became known for his
complex, pandemonic, jigsaw -puzzle like paintings, intended to be
iconography of American life. Usually he would begin by making the
border around the work and then would go inside the space. He said "the
whole painting is the cartoon of a cartoon."
In 1982, he had his
first exhibition, which was held at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New
York. Whitney Museum curators organized a major retrospective of his
work in 1997. He died of AIDS in 1990.
His
work is subject of numerous magazine articles including by Natalie E.
Phillips."The Radiant (Christ) Child: Keith Haring and the Jesus
Movement." American Art, Fall 2007
| |
Biography from Denis Bloch Fine Art Ltd.:
| Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, and was
raised in nearby Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He developed a love for
drawing at a very early age, learning basic cartooning skills from his
father and from the popular culture around him, such as Dr. Seuss and
Walt Disney.
After graduating from high school in 1976, Haring
enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, a
commercial arts school. He soon realized that he had little
interest in becoming a commercial graphic artist and, after two
semesters, dropped out. While in Pittsburgh, Haring continued to
study and work on his own and in 1978 had a solo exhibition of his work
at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center.
Later that year,
Haring moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts
(SVA). In New York, Haring found a thriving alternative art
community that was developing outside the gallery and museum system, in
the downtown streets, subways, small clubs and former dance
halls. He befriended fellow artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel
Basquiat, as well as the musicians, performance artists and graffiti
writers within the burgeoning art community.
Haring was also
inspired by the work of Pierre Alechinsky, Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee,
William Burroughs and Robert Henri’s manifesto The Art Spirit,
which asserted the fundamental independence of the artist. With
these influences Haring was able to focus his own youthful impulses
toward a singular kind of graphic expression based on the dominance of
the line. Also drawn to the public and participatory nature of
Christo’s work and by Andy Warhol’s unique fusion of art and life,
Haring was determined to devote his career to creating a truly public
art.
As a SVA student, Haring experimented with performance*,
video*, installation* and collage*, while always maintaining a strong
commitment to drawing. In 1980, Haring found a highly effective
medium that allowed him to communicate with the wider audience he
desired, when he noticed the unused advertising panels covered with
matte black paper in a subway station. He began to create
drawings in white chalk upon these panels throughout the subway
system. Between 1980 and 1985, Haring produced hundreds of these
public drawings in rapid rhythmic lines, sometimes creating as many as
forty “subway drawings” in one day. This seamless flow of images
became familiar to commuters, who often would stop to engage the artist
when they encountered him at work. The subway became, as Haring
said, a “laboratory” for working out his ideas and experimenting with
his simple lines.
Between 1980 and 1989, Haring achieved
international recognition and participated in several art
exhibitions. His first solo exhibition in New York was held at
the Westbeth Painters Space in 1981. In 1982, he made his Soho
gallery debut with an acclaimed one-man show at the Tony Shafrazi
Gallery. He also participated in renowned international survey
exhibitions such as Documenta 7 in Kassel; the Sao Paulo Biennial*; the
Paris Biennial and the Whitney Biennial*. Haring completed
numerous public projects in the first half of the 80’s including
animation for the electronic billboard in Times Square; designing sets
and theatrical backdrops; developing designs for Swatch watches; an
Absolut Vodka advertising campaign; and creating a mural on the Berlin
Wall.
In 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in
Soho selling T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets bearing his
images. Haring considered the shop to be an extension of his work
and painted the entire interior of the store in an abstract black on
white mural, creating a striking and unique retail environment.
The shop was intended to allow people greater access to his work,
readily available on products at a low cost. The shop received
criticism from many in the art world, however, Haring remained
committed to making his artwork available to as wide an audience as
possible, and received strong support for his project from friends,
fans and mentors including Andy Warhol.
Throughout his career,
Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried
social messages. He produced more than 50 public artworks between
1982 and 1989, in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were
created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and
orphanages. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in
schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Bordeaux,
and produced imagery for literacy programs, environmental movements,
human rights awareness and other public service campaigns.
Haring
was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. In 1989, he established the
Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding and
imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, and to expand
the audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications and
the licensing of his images. Haring enlisted his imagery during
the last years of his life to speak about his own illness and generate
activism and awareness about AIDS.
During a brief but intense
career that spanned the 1980s, Haring’s work was featured in over 100
solo and group exhibitions. In 1986 alone, he was the subject of
more than 40 newspaper and magazine articles. By expressing
universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war, using a primacy
of line and directness of message, Haring was able to attract a wide
audience and assure the accessibility and staying power of his imagery,
which has become a universally recognized visual language of the 20th
century.
Keith Haring died of AIDS related complications at the
age of 31 on February 16, 1990. A memorial service was held on
May 4, 1990 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City,
with over 1,000 people in attendance. Since his death, Haring has
been the subject of several international retrospectives. The
work of Keith Haring can be seen today in the exhibitions and
collections of major museums around the world.
Quote:
"I
don't think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates
the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further.
It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.”
Select Museum Collections:
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Museum of Contemporary Art, Jerusalem
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
The Museum of Art, Kochi, Japan
* For more in-depth information about these terms and others, see
AskART.com Glossary:
http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx
|
Biography from Fineartgasm.com:
| 1958-1990 - During a brief but intense career that spanned the 1980s,
Keith Haring did work that was featured in over 100 solo and
group exhibitions. In 1986 alone, he was the subject of more than
40 newspaper and magazine articles.
He was highly sought after to participate in special projects and
collaborated with artists and performers such as Madonna, Grace Jones,
Bill T. Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer and Andy
Warhol.
By expressing universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war,
using a primacy of line and directness of message, Haring was able to
attract a wide audience and assure the accessibility and staying power
of his imagery, which has become a universally recognized visual
language of the 20th century.
Keith Haring died of AIDS related complications at the age of 31 on
February 16, 1990. A memorial service was held on May 4, 1990 at
the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, with over 1,000
people in attendance. |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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Keith Haring is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Modernism
Sculptors
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