First Contemporary Art - International Contemporary Art

Keith Haring

(Reading, Pensilvania, 4th May 1958 - Nueva York, 16th February 1990)

Biography:

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.

Upon graduation 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 same 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, the subways and spaces in clubs and former dance halls. Here he became friends with fellow artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as the musicians, performance artists and graffiti writers that comprised the burgeoning art community. Haring was swept up in the energy and spirit of this scene and began to organize and participate in exhibitions and performances at Club 57 and other alternative venues.

In addition to being impressed by the innovation and energy of his contemporaries, Haring was also inspired by the work of Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Alechinsky, William Burroughs, Brion Gysin and Robert Henri’s manifesto The Art Spirit, which asserted the fundamental independence of the artist. With these influences Haring was able to push his own youthful impulses toward a singular kind of graphic expression based on the primacy of the line. Also drawn to the public and participatory nature of Christo’s work, in particular Running Fence, 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 student at SVA, 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 blank paper 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 New York 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 numerous group and solo 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 immensely popular and highly acclaimed one-man exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery. During this period, he also participated in renowned international survey exhibitions such as Documenta 7 in Kassel; the São Paulo Biennial; and the Whitney Biennial. Haring completed numerous public projects in the first half of the 80’s as well, ranging from an animation for the Spectacolor billboard in Times Square, designing sets and backdrops for theaters and clubs, developing watch designs for Swatch and an advertising campaign for Absolut vodka; and creating murals worldwide.

In April 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, which was now readily available on products at a low cost. The shop received criticism from many in the art world, however Haring remained committed to his desire to make 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. The now famous Crack is Wack mural of 1986 has become a landmark along New York’s FDR Drive. Other projects include; a mural created for the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986, on which Haring worked with 900 children; a mural on the exterior of Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris, France in 1987; and a mural painted on the western side of the Berlin Wall three years before its fall. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Bordeaux, and produced imagery for many literacy programs 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. He was highly sought after to participate in collaborative projects ,and worked with artists and performers as diverse as Madonna, Grace Jones, Bill T. Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono 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.

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.

Exhibitions:

One-Person Exhibitions

2009
Keith Haring
-- Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Keith Haring
-- Vecchiato Gallery, Milan, Italy
Keith Haring
-- Vecchiato Gallery, Padua, Italy
The Keith Haring Show
-- Musee des Beaux-Arts, Mons, Belgium
Keith Haring (View Selected Works)
-- Kunsthalle Weishaupt, Ulm, Germany
Keith Haring: Print Retrospective 1982 - 1990
-- Collins C. Diboll Art Gallery of Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States


2008
Keith Haring Retrospective
-- Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France
Ludwigmuseum, Budapest, Hungary
Keith Haring - Drawings, Paintings and Sculptures
-- Skarstedt Gallery, New York City, New York,
Keith Haring Houston Street & Bowery Mural recreation
-- Deitch Projects, New York, New York, United States
The Ten Commandments
-- Deitch Projects, 4-40 44th Dr, Long Island City, Queens, New York, United States
Against All Odds: Keith Haring in the Rubell Family Collection (View Selected Works)
-- Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California, United States
Keith Haring, Two Sculptures (View Selected Works)
-- UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland


2007
Keith Haring: Editions on Paper
-- Egon Schiele Centrum, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Keith Haring: The Living Line
-- Ludwigmuseum, Koblenz, Germany
Keith Haring: Works from the Navarra Collection
-- Galerie de lIndependence and Parc Heintz Fondation, Dexia, Luxembourg
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Fundacion Caixa Galicia, Ferrol, Spain
Keith Haring: The Milwaukee Mural
-- Serrone della Villa Reale, Monza, Italy
Keith Haring - Untitled (Acrobats), 1986
-- Katonah Museum of Art, South Lawn, Katonah, New York, United States


2006
Keith Haring: Journey of the Radiant Baby
-- Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania,
Editions on Paper
-- University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Keith Haring: Art and Commerce (View Selected Works)
-- Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, United States
Keith Haring: POP Haring - Symbols and Icons Editions on paper from the Estate of Keith Haring
-- Symbols and Icons Editions on paper from the Keith Haring Studio.; Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore,
Keith Haring: Paintings, Sculpture, Objects and Drawings
-- Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, New York, United States
Against All Odds
-- Rubell Family Collection, Miami, Florida, USA
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Centro Cultural Montehermoso Depsito de Aguas, Vitoria, Spain
-- Fundacion Caixa Galicia, Ferrol, Spain
Keith Haring: Monumental Sculptures
-- Poppy & Pierre Salinger Foundation, Le Thor, France
Keith Haring Drawings
-- Alona Kagan Gallery, New York, New York, USA
Keith Haring - Early Drawings (View Selected Works)
-- Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
Keith Haring (View Selected Works)
-- Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Paris, France
Keith Haring Prints
-- Memo-art Galeria, Budapest, Hungary


2005
Keith Haring
-- Alpen-Adria Galerie, Klagenfurt, Austria
Keith Haring Sculptures (View Selected Works)
-- Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
Keith Haring (View Selected Works)
-- Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, England
Galleria Salvatore Ala, Milan, Italy
Keith Haring: Urban Memory
-- Fundacion ICO, Madrid, Spain
Five Keith Haring Sculptures
-- Somerset House, London, England
Three Keith Haring Sculptures
-- Lever House, New York, New York,
The Keith Haring Show (View Selected Works)
-- La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
Editions on Paper
-- Fundacion Canal, Madrid, Spain
Keith Haring: Coloring Book Drawings
-- Briggs-Robinson Gallery, New York, New York, United States
L'Art a la Plage #4: Keith Haring
-- Galerie Enrico Navarra in cooperation with Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, St Tropez, France


2004
Keith Haring
-- Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-- Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal
-- Alte Rathaus, Prien am Chiemsee, Germany
The Characters of Keith Haring
-- Children's Museum of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
Photos from the Archives: the Artist at Work
-- Pop Shop, New York, NY, USA
Keith Haring: New Wave Aztec
-- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA
Alona Kagan Gallery, New York, New York,


2003
Keith Haring: Short Message. Posters 1982-1990
-- Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
-- Kunstmuseum, Heidenheim, Germany
-- Kunsthaus, Kaufbeuren, Germany
Pop Figuration
-- Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Four Sculptures
-- American Academy, Rome, Italy
Two Sculptures
-- Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy,
Haring Drawings
-- Culturgest, Porto, Portugal
Kagan-Martos Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Keith Haring
-- Centro Cutural Banco do Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
-- CCBB, Brasilia, Brazil


2002
Arario Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Keith Haring: Heaven and Hell (View Selected Works)
-- Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Holland
Keith Haring: Tarps
-- Van de Weghe Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Sex Show (View Selected Works)
-- Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Paris, France
Keith Haring: Short Message. Posters 1982-1990
-- Versicherungskammer Bayern, Munich, Germany


2001
Keith Haring Sculptures
-- Rome, Italy
The 10 Commandments (View Selected Works)
-- Wapping Power Station, London, England
Castello Ursino, Catania, Sicily, Italy
Keith Haring: Heaven and Hell (View Selected Works)
-- Museum fur Neue Kunst/ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Paradise Garage (View Selected Works)
-- Deitch Projects, New York City, NY, USA


2000
Keith Haring: the SVA Years
-- School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA
Keith Haring
-- Isetan Museum, Tokyo, Japan
-- Sapporo City Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido, Japan
-- Niitsu City Museum, Niigata, Japan
-- Amos Anderson Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Keith Haring: Sculptures on the Kurfürstendamm
-- Berlin Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany
Chiostro del Bramante, Rome, Italy
Keith Haring Sculptures
-- Rome, Italy


1999
Keith Haring
-- Eki Museum, Kyoto, Japan
-- Kurashiki City Museum, Kurashiki, Japan
-- Iwaki City Museum, Iwaki, Japan
-- Isetan Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Keith Haring Sculptures
-- Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
-- Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL, USA
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Paris, France
Keith Haring
-- Musee Maillol, Paris, France
Katonah Art Museum, Katonah, NY, USA
Peter Gwyther Gallery, London, England
Casino Knokke, Knokke, Belgium
Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AR, USA
Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
Keith Haring in Pisa (View Selected Works)
-- Palazzo Lanfranchi, Pisa, Italy


1998
Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Wetterling Teo Gallery, Singapore
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida, USA
-- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
-- Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Museum Moderner Kunst, Passau, Germany
-- Quartier 206, Berlin, Germany
Dorothy Blau Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA
Keith Haring in San Francisco
-- Installation of 10 sculptures in San Francisco, sponsored by the San Francisco Art Commission; San Francisco, CA, USA
Keith Haring in West Hollywood
-- Installation of 10 sculptures along the Santa Monica Boulevard median, sponsored by the City of West Hollywood; West Hollywood, CA, USA
Tasende Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA


1997
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Kunsthalle, Cologne, Germany
-- Historisches Museum der Pfalz-Speyer, Speyer, Germany
-- Kunsthalle, Dresden, Germany
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY, USA
-- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Keith Haring on Park Avenue
-- Installation of 13 sculptures on the Park Avenue Malls between 53rd and 74th Streets, sponsored by the Public Art Fund; New York City, NY, USA
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York City, New York,
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,
Seagram Gallery, New York City, New York,
Keith Haring: Blurred Boundaries
-- Lobby Gallery, 717 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York,


1996
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York City, New York,
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Museum Bochum, Leipzig, Germany
-- Museum der Bildenden, Leipzig, Germany
The 10 Commandments (View Selected Works)
-- Bruderkirche and Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Dorothy Blau, Miami, Florida,
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia


1995
Keith Haring Altarpiece
-- Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, California,
-- Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, Missouri,
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- Fundacion La Caixa, Madrid, Spain
-- Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria
Keith Haring: Works on Paper 1989
-- Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York City, New York,
Hans Mayer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
Keith Haring: Family and Friends Collect
-- Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania,


1994
Keith Haring (View Selected Works)
-- curated by Germano Celant; Castellodi Rivoli, Turin, Italy
-- Malmo Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden
-- Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
-- Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
Complete Editions on Paper
-- need venue, Hiroshima, Japan
-- need venue, Osaka, Japan
-- need venue, Nagoya, Japan
-- need venue, Tokyo and Fukuoka, Japan
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,


1993
Queens Museum, Queens, New York,
DIA Art Foundation, Bridgehampton, New York,
Complete Editions on Paper
-- Galerie Littmann, Basel, Switzerland
-- Galerie der Stadt, Stuttgart, Germany
-- Aktionsforum, Munich, Germany
Keith Haring: A Retrospective (View Selected Works)
-- Mitsukoshi Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Nikolaus Sonne, Berlin, Germany
Musee de Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Michael Fuchs Gallery, Berlin, Germany


1992
Gallery 56, Budapest, Hungary
Tabula Gallery, Tubingen, Germany
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,


1991
Hete Hunermann Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
Keith Haring: Future Primeval
-- University Galleries, Normal, Illinois,
-- Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida,
-- Museum of Modern Art, Ostend, Belgium
Haring, Disney, Warhol
-- Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona,
-- Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington,
-- The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C,
-- Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts,
Dante Park, Lincoln Center, New York City, New York,
Chase Manhattan Bank, Soho Branch, New York City, New York,
Erika Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco, California,
Molinar Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona,
Steffanoni Gallery, Milan, Italy


1990
Galerie La Poche, Paris, France
Charles Lucien Gallery, New York City, New York,
Philip Samuels Fine Art, St. Louis, Missouri,
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,
Keith Haring: Future Primeval
-- Queens Museum, Queens, New York,
Galerie Nikolaus Sonne, Berlin, Germany
Richard Nadeau Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Gallery 56, Geneva, Switzerland
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City,


1989
Gallery 121, Antwerp, Belgium
Casa Sin Nombre, Santa Fe, New Mexico,
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia,
Galerie Hete Hunermann, Dusseldorf, Germany


1988
Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, California,
Hans Mayer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,
Hokin Gallery, Bay Harbor Islands, Florida,


1987
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,
Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Gallery 121, Antwerp, Belgium
Casino Knokke, Knokke, Belgium
Kutztown New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania,
Galerie Rivolta, Lausanne, Switzerland


1986
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Sculpture Garden, New York City, New York,
Art in the Park
-- Whitney Museum of American Art, Stamford, Connecticut,
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands


1985
Schellmann & Kluser, Munich, West Germany
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City, New York,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux, France


1984
University Museum of Iowa City, Iowa City, Iowa,
Paul Maenz Gallery, Cologne, West Germany,
Keith Haring: Milan 1984 (View Selected Works)
-- with LA II; Salvatore Ala Gallery, Milan, Italy
Paradise Garage, New York City, New York,
Galerie Corinne Hummel, Basel, Switzerland,
Semaphore East, New York City, New York,


1983
Fun Gallery, New York City, New York,
Galerie Watari, Tokyo, Japan
Lucio Amelio Gallery, Naples, Italy
Matrix 75
-- Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut,
Robert Fraser Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,


1982
Rotterdam Arts Council, Rotterdam, Holland
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City, New York,


1981
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York City, New York, United States


1980
Westbeth Painters Space, New York City, New York,
P.S. 122, New York City, New York,
Club 57, New York City, New York,


1978
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,