Keith Haring
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Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 - February 16, 1990) was a pre-eminent artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York street culture of the 1980s.
He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania but grew up in Kutztown and was interested in art from an early age. From 1976 to 1978 he studied graphic design at a commercial art school in Pittsburgh. After coming out, he quit school to move to New York City. There he was greatly inspired by the graffiti art, and additionally studied at the School of Visual Arts. Many of his works as a pop artist show homoerotic themes.
He achieved his first public attention with his chalk drawings in the subways of New York (see public art). The exhibitions were put on film by the photographer Tseng Kwong Chi. At this time, "The Radiant Child" also became his symbol. Starting in 1980, he organized exhibitions in Club 57. He participated in the Times Square exhibition and drew for the first time animals and human faces. In 1981 he sketched his first chalk drawings on black paper and painted plastic, metal and found objects.
He contributed in the New York New Wave display. He met with the graffiti artist L.A. II (Angel Oritz). Following that, he had his first exclusive exhibition in the Tony Shafrzi Gallery. That same year, Haring took part of Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany. He took part in the Whitney Biennial in 1983, as well as the Sao Saulo Biennial. He got to know Andy Warhol.
In 1984, he painted wall murals in Melbourne, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Minneapolis and Manhattan. In 1985 he began to paint canvas. Simultaneously, the Museum of Modern Art in Bordeaux opened an exhibition of his works, and he took part in the Paris Biennial. In 1986 Haring painted a murals in Amsterdam, Paris, Phoenix and in Berlin on the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie. He painted the body of Grace Jones for her video "I'm Not Perfect."
He had his own exhibitions in 1987 in Helsinki and Antwerpen, among others. He was also a tireless AIDS activist whose art often depicted AIDS in his own unique way. Despite his early death of AIDS on February 16, 1990 at the age of 31, Haring's imagery has become a universally recognized visual language of the 20th century. The Keith Haring Foundation, established in 1989, continues Keith's legacy of giving to children's organizations.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Keith Haring".
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