Keith Haring is an American artist whose work was in response to the New York street culture. Through his art he expressed the concept of birth, sexuality, war and death. His work was deemed highly political and with his imagination widely seen as visual language in the 20th century. Keith Haring gained the attention of the public with his subway art.
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In 1980 he began to organise exhibitions at Club 57 which were photographed by Tseng Kwong Chi. His symbol became, “The Radiant Baby” with his use of vivid colors, bold lines and active figures. His art carried a message of life and unity and his participation at a Times Square Exhibition had him drawing animals and human faces for the first time. In 1980 he also photocopied and pasted outrageous collages he made from New York Post headlines. He began sketching chalk drawings onto black paper, painted metal and plastic in 1981. Keith Haring formed friendships with other artists and created more than 50 public art pieces between 1982 and 1989 in different cities around the globe. Keith’s “Crack is Wack” mural is seen from New York’s FDR Drive.
The friendship he had with Andy Warhol would become a turning point in Keith’s success. Keith visited Australia and painted wall murals in Sydney and Melbourne, and also received a commission for the National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. He designed the jacket worn by Madonna when she performed her song, “Like a Virgin”, and became politically active with a poster created for Free South Africa. Keith opened a store called, “Pop Shop” where his art pieces depicting socio-political themes such as; AIDS awareness, Apartheid and the crack cocaine epidemic could be found. He had also started to create pieces influenced by; Coco-Cola, Absolut Vodka and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Keith’s art also appears on the label of Chateau Mouton Rothschild wine.
