SAFFRON!: SAFFRON ART APPRECIATION: KEITH HARING

(May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990)

Born in 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Keith Haring 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.

In 1978 he moved to New York, where he 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- like Madonna and Grace Jones( umm MY FAVEEEE :D), performance artists - like Bill T Jones ( also one of my faves, im a HUGE fan!..studied his choreography in college!) and graffiti writers that comprised the burgeoning art community.

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, Christo's Running Fence and Andy Warhol’s unique fusion of art and life. 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.

Haring experimented with performance, video, installation and collage, while always maintaining a strong commitment to drawing, producing hundreds of public drawings in rapid rhythmic lines, sometimes creating as many as forty “subway drawings” in one day.

During a brief but intense career that spanned the 1980s, Haring’s work was featured in over 100 solo and group exhibitions all over the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and orphanages. Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. 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.

The now famous Crack is Wack mural of 1986 has become a landmark along New York’s FDR Drive.

Like many gifted artists in the late 80's and early 90's Keith Haring was diagnosed with AIDS and died of AIDS related complications at the age of 31 on February 16, 1990.

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. Most recently rihanna was spotted making HUGE fashion waves in a Haring inspired Jeremy Scott Jacket that had all fashionista's yearning.