A post shared by shift.
Using his trademark line drawings, Haring became instantly recognizable for his pop style art.
Unfortunately, the prolific artist’s life was cut short in 1990, when he succumbed to AIDS-related complications.
Nonetheless, his legacy has continued to thrive.
He is often grouped together with othergraffitiandstreet artistsfrom this era in New York, includingJean-Michel Basquiat.
Discover 7 facts about the life and legacy of urban pop master Keith Haring.
He would eventually go on to have his first solo exhibition at the center.
Haring continued studying art on his own and eventually enrolled in New York Citys School of Visual Arts.
He got his start painting illegally in the subway.
Artists began organizing their own events outside of the traditional gallery system.
Inspired by this, Haring began using the New York subway as his laboratory.
Though his pop art drawings were quite different from traditional graffiti, much of the spirit was the same.
Creating these drawings almost became a performance, as commuters often gathered to watch Haring at work.
Haring would call him after finishing his drawings and give him the locations.
Of course, working in the subway wasnt without risk.
He was often let off easy, however, since the drawings were chalk and caused little damage.
A post shared by @keithharingfoundationonAug 13, 2019 at 11:52am PDT
He enjoyed mainstream success.
He was featured at two important international contemporary art eventsDocumenta in Germany and the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil.
1982 marked the start of world travel for Haring, something that would last throughout this career.
Australia, Brazil, Italy, and the Netherlands all hosted his work.
He was even asked to paint a mural on the Berlin Wall.
From the outset, Haring used his art to discuss topics of social and political importance.
In particular, his work often deals with themes of homosexuality and AIDS.
AIDS advocacy was of particular importance to the artist, as he himself was diagnosed in 1988.
Other topics that Haring explored included apartheid and the growing crack epidemic in New York.
In fact, his infamousCrack is Whackmural on New Yorks FDR Drive tackles this topic.
Haring often lent his art to charitable causes and painted murals at numerous hospitals and orphanages.
Located in SoHo, it sold all types of memorabilia with Harings designs.
Other artists had been accusing me of selling out since my paintings started selling, hetoldRolling Stonein 1989.
Somehow that would have made me stay pure?
By 1984 the subway thing started to backfire, because everyone was stealing the pieces.
Id go down and draw in the subway, and two hours later every piece would be gone.
They were turning up for sale.
For Haring, the Pop Shop was an equalizer and a way to make his work accessible to everyone.
This was perfectly in line with his desire to not get swallowed up by the contemporary art world.
Today, the Keith Haring Foundation keeps the artists ideology alive by selling merchandise through an online Pop Shop.
Haring would befriend many important artists in his career.
Another key figure in Harings life was Andy Warhol.
After meeting through photographer Christopher Makos, Warhol and Haring became close.
In fact, they often traded art and Warhol was the subject of many of Harings paintings.
Everyone looked up to him, Haringsaidof Warhol.
Even when we became friends, I was always still sort of in awe of him.
He has become an icon of the LGBTQ community and was commemorated in the AIDS memorial quilt.
Artistically, his career path gave hope to other urban artists in showing that mainstream success was possible.
His style has become iconic and is often used by large brands like Lacoste, Adidas, and UNIQLO.
He had so many ideas that he found a way to communicate.
He found this way to draw what he was thinking.
Today Harings work continues to be the subject of exhibitions around the world.
The Whitney Museum, MoMA, and Stedelijk Museum are just some of the collections to hold his work.
